


Pokélibrium

by Acanthus_Addams



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 10:24:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18618724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acanthus_Addams/pseuds/Acanthus_Addams
Summary: Ash was probably never going to figure out the concept of love on his own. Why Brock thinks it's a good idea to explain it to him using science, however, is anyone's guess. In the heart of Sinnoh, Dawn and Brock point a melancholy Ash in the direction of one who can 'restore the balance'. Pokéshipping with hints of others.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is not particularly intended to break any ground. I wrote it purely to encapsulate everything I love about the Pokémon anime; just a detailed, humorous, nostalgic imagining of an adult Ash discovering his feelings for Misty.

Pokélibrium

" _For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."_

According to Brock, this is one of Newton's three laws of inertia. Don't ask me what 'inertia' is, because I've got no idea. Hey, maybe it's a new type of pokémon! Or a new training method, maybe? Must be, otherwise why would Brock have pulled me aside in the pokémon centre specially to tell me this? Dawn's probably wondering where we are now, and I can hear Pikachu chanting his 'Pikapi's from the foyer, but after eight years of friendship, I've come to accept that there's just no escaping my older friend's annoying 'pep talks'. It's then that I notice Brock's suddenly stopped talking my ear off and is giving me a look as if he wants me to say something.

Before I can open my mouth, however, he lets out a sigh and crosses his arms. "You weren't listening to anything I just said, were you?"

I scratch at the back of my head sheepishly. "Er…"

"Thought as much. Okay, since you're even further gone than I thought, I'm just gonna give you the quick recap."

Just what did he mean by that? Do I look tired or something? Oh, it could be the cheeseburgers we had for lunch; man, I sure can put those things away. Come to think of it, a nap sounds pretty good about n-

"So basically," Brock begins before I can drift off again, "if I push against this wall here, the reason it doesn't fall over is because the wall is pushing back with the same amount of force as me. The two forces are in equilibrium, and so cancel each other out."

I don't think I've ever been more confused in my life. "Equi-whatty-um?"

"Equi _libri_ um, Ash," Brock reiterates. I can tell he's trying hard to maintain his patience, but right now I'm quickly losing mine. "It means they're equal, balanced, in harmony with one another."

"Okay…"

"So, to put this theory into practice…remember about a week ago when we went shopping in Hearthome City?"

"Yeah…"

"And we could hardly move through the streets because they were so crowded?"

I nod, massaging a faint bruise on my arm from where someone had almost knocked me over as they sped past.

"And we lost you for about ten minutes because you started running towards a girl with bright orange hair?"

Suddenly, I feel my cheeks start to heat up. "Hey, that was an honest mistake! From the back, she really looked like…" I clear my throat and look down at the floor so as not to meet Brock's rather intimidating gaze, "Misty."

Eyes still fixated on the chansey-patterned carpet of the pokémon centre, I hear a rustle of fabric as a large hand clamps down gently on my left shoulder. I slowly tilt my head up to look its owner in the eye. To my surprise, he doesn't look annoyed at all – in fact, he's smiling.

"Ash, why would Misty be all the way out here?" His voice is soft, and as he moves to take his hand off my shoulder, he gives me a small pat on the back. "We're hundreds of miles from Kanto, and she's got a gym to run all by herself."

Somehow, hearing Brock say that makes me feel really down. True, it was stupid to think that she'd come all the way to Sinnoh just to join the mobs of shoppers in Hearthome, but I haven't seen my best friend in over a year, and I was so excited that day when I thought we'd get the chance to hang out for a while. Damn it, my face feels really warm again; there's gotta be something wrong with the AC in this place.

"I know," I eventually say, although I think my voice sounds a little weaker than I had intended. "But I just really thought it was- HEY!"

Across from me, Brock jumps slightly as I realise that our conversation has taken a swift detour.

"Why are we suddenly talking about Misty? I thought you were trying to feed me some crap about 'Numel's laws of inebriation'?"

Apparently what I just said was hilarious, as Brock lets out a sharp blast of laughter, which he tries to stifle behind his hand. He looks away and holds his index finger up at me, telling me to give him a minute to compose himself. But I can feel myself getting quite pissed off now; just what is going on here? Is the aspiring pokémon doctor in on some elaborate plan that somehow involves both Misty and all this science mumbo-jumbo? Time to get to the bottom of this.

"Just where are you going with this, Brock? I'm really not in the mood for one of your lectures today, so can you please just cut to the chase?"

Within a few seconds, the former gym leader's face turns serious once again. He briefly squeezes his temples with his finger and thumb and then looks back at me.

"Okay, Ash, since you clearly haven't got the message yet, I'm just going to be straight with you."  _Thank god_ , I think to myself.

"I'm afraid there's no delicate way to say this, but…" He stops for a moment, as if trying to decide his next words carefully. "Ever since you saw that girl in Hearthome City, you haven't stopped…" I see his lips contort into a slight grimace, " _f_ _ondling_  that handkerchief in your pocket."

As soon as my ears receive these words, I feel as if I've just been dunked headfirst into a camerupt's hump. A hot flush surges through my body, oddly causing me to shiver, and as I pull my hat over my eyes to hide the redness staining my cheeks, I realise that my other hand is, and has been throughout our entire conversation, exactly where Brock had just described.

I pause for a second, then slowly feel my eyes creeping down to my side as I pull my hand out of my jacket pocket, fingers lightly wrapped around the object in question. The pink edges of the beautifully embroidered cloth feel smooth and silky, and, unfolding it, my lips curl upwards when I notice the striking yellow sun pattern in the centre. I trace my eyes along the little fabric square, observing every stitch and seam from corner to corner. To my dismay, I also take note of how dirty it has become from sitting around in my backpack for so long; I guess I've always been scared to clean it in case it fell apart.

Misty gave me this handkerchief on the day she left to become a gym leader. Looking back, it was probably the worst day of my life. She had been there since the first day of my pokémon journey, and from that moment on, we had never been apart for more than a few hours at a time. We fought constantly – sometimes verbally, sometimes physically – but eventually we grew to be inseparable, and when she finally had to leave me, I suddenly had to picture my journey without my best friend by my side, something I never thought I would have to do. Brock was always there, too, but for some reason (the age difference, maybe?), I always felt closer to Misty.

Before they left, they each presented me with a parting gift. Brock gave me a lunchbox filled to the brim with his amazing rice balls and other treats, while Misty gave me this handkerchief, wrapping it around the box to make it "easier to carry". Remembering this brings a peculiar question to my mind: why am I taking such good care of something that Misty only gave me to help with carrying a lunchbox? I mean, sure, it does remind me of her, but she couldn't have meant anything like that when she gave me it, could she?

Maybe it's the weird place my mind has gone to, or maybe it's the loud and slightly angry throat clear that Brock just performed, but I'm now all too aware that I've been standing in the middle of the pokémon centre for an entire minute staring at a pink silk handkerchief. Trying to ignore the muffled snickering from trainers over my shoulder, I quickly force the cloth back into my pocket and open my mouth to say something, but Brock beats me to it once again.

"Your equilibrium's off, Ash. You're unbalanced, because you're trying to push against forces that aren't there anymore. You do that and you'll just keep falling, because there's nothing to push back, and you'll end up burning out all your energy trying to find that one thing that can match the force you're putting out."

"What the hell does all of that mean?!" I'm angry now, and there's no way that Brock can't see that. "I thought you said you were gonna cut the crap! First of all, I wasn't  _fondling_  the handkerchief, I was, er, just ch-checking it for rips!" I don't think I sold that very well, and unfortunately, Brock looks like he can see  _that_  too. "And secondly, have you been borrowing books from Max again? What's with all this science stuff? Just tell me what's going on!"

Brock seems slightly stunned that I raised my voice at him, but thankfully shakes it off and lets out a small chuckle.

"Honestly, Ash, I didn't realise you wanted it  _this_ bluntly," he says with a smile, then motions with his head for us to sit down on the sofas to the left of us. I take a deep breath to calm myself down, walking over to the nearest sofa and taking my place opposite the pokémon breeder.

Once I meet his gaze, Brock doesn't hesitate for a second. "You miss Misty, don't you?"

"I…I…err…" My words trail off when I realise that I have no idea how to answer that question. Misty  _is_  my best friend, and it  _has_  been a long time since I've seen her, but actually 'missing' her is not something I've ever really thought about before (well, excluding that one time during the Millennium Festival a couple of years ago, but I convinced myself afterwards that I'd just inhaled too much 'space dust' that day).

I hear Brock laughing again. "You don't need to say anything, Ash, just…take this."

With that, he thrusts a few silver coins into my hand and points with his head towards the videophones near the reception area. Winking, he says in an almost whispery tone, "Just don't stay on too long, okay?"

Though my first instinct is still to deny this whole 'missing' thing, the huge grin that appears on my face instantly betrays any sort of anger I may be feeling. "Thanks Brock!" I exclaim before standing up and looking over at the lines of videophones on either side of the reception desk.

"But what was all that 'laws of ineptitude' stuff about?" I suddenly remember.

Shaking his head, my spiky-haired friend replies, "I was just trying to be poetic, Ash. Apparently chicks dig it."

As the breeder flashes his trademark 'chin-stroking flirty smile', I decide that this is a good time to make a swift exit. Just as I'm about to walk past him, however, he grabs my arm. "Oh, and just for the record," he starts with a grin, "It was Professor Oak I borrowed the books from, not Max. If there's anyone who knows how to blend science with poetry, it's him."

"Whatever you say, Brock," I laugh nervously, not fully understanding what he's getting at. Taking that as my cue, I begin to stroll energetically over to the row of videophones, taking one last glance behind me at my close friend of eight years. He's chuckling to himself again, and I swear I can hear him muttering something:

"If that's how he fusses over her handkerchief, I can only imagine what he's been doing to that  _lure_ …"

It's probably for the best that I've no idea what he means.


	2. Chapter 2

After tossing and turning for what seems like an eternity, I finally reach the conclusion that any attempt to sleep tonight is beyond futile. A symphony of creaks erupts from the bed as I sit up and pat the bedside table to the right with my hand in search of my pokédex. Our small room in Solaceon Town's pokémon centre is currently pitch black, and as I fumble for the 'on' button, a rectangle of white light bursts from the screen, causing me to slap an arm across my seething eyes. Once I adjust to the room's new lighting, I glance at the small numbers on the home screen and let out a guttural groan.

"Ugh, 2:47?!"  _Well, so much for that 'big day of training' tomorrow,_ I think with a frown.

I look to my right to see Brock in the lower bunk of the other bunk bed, snoring blissfully with his arm draped over the side. I then turn my eyes to the 'ceiling' of my bunk, on top of which Dawn is silently sleeping; judging by her stillness, I can only assume she's just as content. Trying my hardest not to make any noise, I slither out of the bedcovers and tiptoe to the back of the room, running my hand along the wall for the handle of the bathroom door.

As soon as I find it, I swing open the door and yank on the white cord hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the small, L-shaped room and, once again, sending my retinas into a daze. I stumble over to the sink and, sitting on the edge of the bath, turn on the tap and splash my face with cold water. From my position, I can see my reflection in the mirror above the sink, revealing my bloodshot eyes and dishevelled black hair sticking out in all directions. Staring at my unkempt appearance, I start to think I should really be sleeping, or, at the very least, be trying to, but ever since the events that transpired around four hours ago, my mind has never stopped racing with new and confusing thoughts, and, for probably the ninety-sixth time that night, I can't help but slip into a peaceful trance as I recall my phone call with Misty Waterflower the previous evening…

_Despite my excitement, I decide to take my time on the short walk over to the reception area, and, looking left and right along the line of videophones, I'm surprised to see that there's no-one else here. Ah well, I suppose it is close to curfew, and at least I won't be looked at funny for speaking too loud – not that that's ever really bothered me before. I take a seat at the last phone on the right-hand side of the desk and grasp for the receiver, only to stop when I notice my hand is shaking. That's odd; why am I shaking when I was just complaining about how hot it was?_

_With my other hand, I feed each of the three coins Brock had given me into the coin slot, causing the screen to flash on instantly. Against a pokéball-themed backdrop, a dancing chansey graphic hops up and down, chirping, "Please enter a number!" Usually, this sort of thing makes me laugh, but for some reason, I stay serious, taking the bright green receiver and pressing it to my ear. My gloved hand slides across the keypad, hovering over the chunky, metallic buttons, but it's in this very moment that I do something I'm not exactly known for doing – I hesitate. My eyes then widen as I begin to put two and two together; am I…nervous?_

" _What's the matter with you?" I say out loud to myself, "It's just Misty. You've been halfway around the world with her and never once have you felt this nervous about talking to her. What's-" I have to cut off my rambling to take in a large gulp of air. "What's going on?"_

_Deciding not to waste any more time, I stamp the seven-digit number into the machine and wait anxiously for her to pick up._

_One ring…_

_Two rings…_

_Three rings…_

_Four ri-_

" _Hello, Cerulean City Pokémon Gym, how can I help you?" The voice sounds tired and slightly irritated, but I instantly recognise it as hers._

" _Hey Mist!" I almost yell, feeling calmer than I have all day._

" _Ash? Is that you?" No sooner do I hear these words than the screen on my videophone bursts into life, presenting me with the welcome image of my beaming best friend. Her hair looks damp, as if she's just been swimming, and she's got it tied up in that signature side ponytail of hers, but when my gaze shifts to her eyes, something seems different about them. It's almost as if they're…sparkling._

" _Uh, h-hey." Guess that calmness didn't last long. And oh great, it's suddenly boiling in here again; am I coming down with a fever or something?_

" _How've you been? You know you haven't called me since you left for Sinnoh."_

_Oops. Had it really been that long? I left Pallet Town just after my birthday in September, and it's nearly the end of March now. No wonder Brock was saying that I missed her. Wait, no! That's not what I meant! I...argh, damn it, Brock._

" _I know, I guess I just lost track of t-"_

" _And another thing, Mr. Pokémon Master. It's got to be at least 10:30pm in Sinnoh right now; isn't that past your bedtime?" I see her fold her arms, pretending to be annoyed, but she quickly gives it away when she winks at me._

" _I'm eighteen, Misty. I don't have a bedtime anymore. But if you'd rather I was asleep instead of talking to you…"_

_She makes a fake gasping sound and covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh, you're eighteen now, are you? Well, you must be so much more mature and intelligent than the dense, annoying, whiny Ash Ketchum I knew."_

" _Hey, take that back! I'm as mature as they come, unlike some scrawny little runts I can think of."_

_I've always liked arguing with Misty, although I'd never admit that to her. It was pretty much what I lived for in the first few years of my journey, and even though we're both much older now and get to speak to each other so rarely, sparring with her like this makes it seem like we'd never left the other's side, still two hot-headed teenagers travelling from region to region to fulfil our dreams without a care in the world. After that absolute zinger of a comeback, I'm expecting her to literally reach through the screen and throttle me; sadly, though, she just snorts and shakes her head._

" _You really need to come up with some new insults, Ketchum."_

_Well, at least she's smiling. Somehow, that makes me break out in a smile too. One second later and we're both doubled over with laughter._

_Wiping the tears from my eyes, I look back up to the screen and see Misty doing the same. She takes a minute to catch her breath, then cheerfully asks, "So how are things in Sinnoh?"_

_As I begin to tell her all about all the badges I've earned so far, I start to notice how much my friend has changed since I last saw her. How can a few months make so much difference to someone I've known most of my life? Well, I guess it's more like seven months, but either way, it's still weird. I mean, her hair's just as it was when we were travelling – maybe a tiny bit longer – and she's wearing pretty much the exact same clothes she's always worn, yellow tank top and jean shorts, but now they somehow seem to, I dunno, fit better? Guess she's not so scrawny after all- oh for Mew's sake, will someone please sort out the thermostat in this damn place?_

_But above all else, I'm weirdly drawn to her eyes. Right now, she's telling me about how some hotshot trainer's ivysaur Solarbeamed a hole in the gym's roof yesterday, leaving her forced to close the place for a few days. It's a conversation I should probably be involved in, but it's just dawned on me that she hasn't looked away from me for at least the last five minutes, and it's making me feel strangely dizzy. Speaking of Dawn, I should really mention her at some point, but right now my best friend and I are having some sort of staring contest, and for once, I think I'm the only one who's picked up on it. Were her eyes always that colour? When did they get so…_

" _Hey, are you even listening? Ash Ketchum, you better not have spaced out on me!"_

_Phew, that was close. Who knows what I was going to say there, but I'm sure I wouldn't have liked it._

" _Waaah!" I jump in surprise. "y-yes I heard it all! The gym's closed because there's a hole in the roof, I got it!"_

" _Hmm…" Before she can call me an idiot, or dense, or whatever else, I hear a high-pitched screech followed by a giant head of blonde hair taking up half of the screen._

" _Like, oh my GOD! Hey Ash!"_

" _Uh, hi Daisy," I stutter awkwardly. Though I've always thought Daisy was the least crazy of Misty's sisters, she's still WAY off the chart._

" _You're so grown up! Last time you came to the gym was, like, two years ago! Are you coming to visit? Misty, like, never shuts up about you!_

" _DAISY! GET OUT OF HERE!"_

_I watch with a mixture of fear and excitement as a familiar mallet appears out of nowhere and swats the interfering Waterflower sister out of view. Huh, it's kinda funny seeing Misty use that thing on someone else for a change._

_With a flash of orange, Misty returns to the centre of my screen. Her face is red, and there's a vein throbbing in her temple, but she seems to recover quickly._

" _Sorry about that. You'd think they'd have better things to do," she says with a slight giggle._

_I stay silent, but smile and scratch the back of my head. At that moment, the clock on the wall next to me chimes loudly, and a small wooden chatot emerges from a hole in the front, squawking, "11 o'clock! Curfew time! Curfew time!" Shortly after, I'm startled by a tap on the shoulder from the centre's Nurse Joy._

" _Excuse me, sir, but we're about to close the foyer now."_

" _Oh, okay," I say, not quite believing that it's 11 o'clock already. Taking a glance at the videophone screen, I look back up at Nurse Joy. "Could I just have one more minute, please?"_

_I'm worried for a second that she's going to cut the call off, but thankfully she smiles and gives a small nod as she walks back to the front desk._

" _Well, I guess I've gotta go now, Mist."_

" _Guess so…" She looks up at me, then seems to stare off into the distance. Her eyes have kinda lost their sparkle from before; I suppose she must be tired or something._

" _I'll try to call again, soon, ok? See ya!"_

_I'm just about to press the 'end call' button when I hear, "Ash, wait!" Looking back up at the screen, I can see that Misty has leaned in slightly closer to the camera, and is looking me straight in the eyes._

" _Erm…" She plays with her hair and bites her lip. "I just wanted to say…thanks for calling me, Ash. I've, er, missed this, you know? Well actually, I guess I've…er…missed you."_

_For some reason, it feels like a million butterfree just flew into my stomach. Without thinking, my finger floats over to the 'end call' button, and just before pressing down I hear myself shakily reply, "I miss you too, Misty."_

* * *

Opening my eyes, I sharply snap back to reality, looking around to remind myself of where I am. Instead of sitting on the edge of the bath, I'm now slouching over the sink in front of the mirror, eyes following the small drops of condensation as they roll smoothly down the glass. It must be really late by now – or early, depending on just how long I've been in here – and I can't just write tomorrow off, no matter how little sleep I've had, so I turn to head out of the bathroom and back towards my bunk. Of course, I forget straight away that switching off the bathroom light plunges the room back into pitch darkness, and I only make it about three or four steps before I end up both stubbing my toe on Brock's backpack and smacking my forehead on the bunk above mine. Swearing under my breath, I collapse onto my bed clutching my throbbing foot with one hand and my bruised head with another, when, all of a sudden, the mattress above me begins to squeak.

"Ash…what are you doing?"

Oh great, now I've woken up Dawn, too. I stay quiet, hoping she thinks I'm asleep.

"I know you're awake, Ash. You've been talking to yourself in the bathroom for the last 20 minutes."

…I have? I rub my eyes and sit bolt upright, causing Pikachu to stir slightly at the foot of my bed. That doesn't sound like me. Talking to myself sounds so boring – I mean, surely I'll always know how I'm going to answer, right?

After another few creaks of the mattress, I look to the right to see a trail of blue hair creep over the side of the railing, followed by the upside-down head of my newest travelling companion. She's got a weird smile on her face, or, at least, I think she does – it's hard to tell from this angle.

"Is this about last night?"

Groaning, I sink back into my pillow and pull the covers up to my chin. "I just can't sleep, ok?"

But she doesn't pull her head back up, so I guess she's not done with me yet. "Wanna talk about it?"

Clearly, she doesn't need to wait for me to answer, either, because now she's slowly making her way down the ladder that joins our two bunks. Once at the bottom, she brushes her hair out of her face and sits cross-legged next to where Pikachu is curled up at the bottom of the bed. The shift in weight causes my end of the bunk to bounce upwards for a brief moment.

"So what's up? You and Brock just disappeared when we got to the pokémon centre, then about half an hour later, he came up to the room and said you had an urgent phone call to make!" She's not annoyed, but there's a strange sort of 'energy' in her voice as she speaks. "Apparently, it had something to do with 'restoring the balance'," she emphasises by air-quoting with her fingers.

Well, I'm not sure what that last part means, but Dawn doesn't look like she's going away anytime soon, so I might as well humour her. "I was just talking to my friend Misty. We, er, haven't spoken in a while."

"Ooh!" She clasps her hands together and gives me a slightly evil-looking grin. "I just knew it had to be about a girl! Hey, wait a minute…Misty? Isn't that the girl you used to travel with, the one who gave you that lure?"

At the mention of the lure, my cheeks start burning again. Why is everyone so obsessed with that thing? Well, the joke's on them, because I've got it hidden in a special compartment of my backpack away from all my other stuff, so now they'll never be able to find it! Ha!

Feeling somewhat embarrassed about the whole situation, I simply nod my head lamely, and, less than half a millisecond later, my eardrums are destroyed by quite possibly the highest-pitched squeal in the history of the world.

"That is so cute! Brock told me a little about her after you wouldn't let me look at her lure. Oh, I bet that's her handkerchief, too! This is why you've been so lethargic the past few days; it all makes sense now!"

I look over to my black and yellow jacket on the floor, worried that a certain pink object may be sticking out of the side pocket, but luckily, it's too dark to tell. Since when did I start keeping it in my pocket instead of my backpack anyway? When I look back at Dawn, I can see that she's leaned in a bit closer, and her evil grin is now much less…er, evil. "Does she know?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Know what?"

"Oh come on, Ash!" she exclaims, then, as Brock makes a slightly frightening grunting sound, lowers her voice to just above a whisper. " _Come on, Ash! It's obvious you're really into her_."

"Of course I'm into her, she's my best friend. And we hadn't spoken for months, so it was just nice to catch up, you know?"

She sighs. "That's not what I meant. The way you've been acting lately, the way you've been tending to that handkerchief in your jacket, the fact you're still wide awake at 3:30 in the morning after a simple phone call with your 'friend' – sounds to me like you're in love."

"In l-l-love?" I can't believe what I'm hearing. "With Misty? That's just…I, er, I mean…that's-"

"Hey, no need to worry, your secret's safe with me," Dawn says, winking.

"Secret? There's no…I mean, er, w-we're not…argh!" I clench my fists and growl like a pouty five-year-old. "This is all Brock's fault! If he hadn't tricked me into admitting I missed Misty by confusing me with all that science stuff-"

I cut my rant short when the blunette breaks into a quiet fit of laughter. "Oh no," she squeaks between gasping for air. "You mean he's been telling  _you_  about all that 'equilibrium' crap too?"

Pointing behind her to the pile of bags and backpacks near the door, she catches her breath and then continues. "Ever since he got that damn book in the mail – I think it was called 'The Science of Poetry' or 'Poetic Science' or something like that – he's been talking non-stop about finding his 'opposing force' and wanting to 'achieve equilibrium' with the girl of his dreams. Any of this sound familiar?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what he was saying to me last night. But I don't know what any of it means."

"Ah, well if Brock meant it how  _I_  think he meant it," she begins, slowly moving to stand up, "then it's probably best that you figure it out yourself. Trust me, when the time comes, you'll understand."

"But I-"

"Hey, don't worry about it now. Just get some sleep, alright?" Dawn then turns on her heel and climbs back up the ladder, each step making its own distinct creaking sound. Soon, she disappears completely from view, and after a muffled "G'night!" from the bunk above me, the room falls into a deep silence once again.

Wow. That conversation has given me a lot to think about, and I'm not great at thinking about things at the best of times. In the space of about six hours, I've been bowled over by Brock's mysterious words of wisdom, stricken with some unknown fever that's come and gone all through the night, injured by pretty much every object in our room, and now I've just been told that I might  _love my best friend_? It took a lot to be able to admit to myself that I even missed her, but loving her? That's ridiculous…isn't it? My head's spinning, and I'm thankful that I'm finally feeling tired now, at least, but I'm so confused, and I feel like I still need to make sense of this a bit before I go to sleep. I  _have_  been feeling funny lately, but I just thought I'd eaten a bad burger or something; I never would have thought that it had something to do with Misty. Truth be told, I still don't know if it does, but Brock and Dawn have never steered me wrong before, so maybe I should trust them on this.

I guess I'd know more about how I'm feeling if I talked to Misty again. Last night's phone call made me feel better than I have in a long time, and I'm so relieved to see that the distance hasn't affected our friendship. I wonder what she's going to be doing over the next few days now that the gym's clo-

Wait a second…

A huge grin appears on my face as the idea of the century pops into my head. "Hey, Dawn?"

"Mhm?"

"Ever been to Cerulean City?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Ash, when I sent you off to call Misty last night, this is NOT what I had in mind!"

"Aww come on, Brock! There's no gym here anyway, and I've been training like crazy lately. Don't you think we could do with a break?"

As I expected, today was a pretty late start. I think Brock tried to wake me up at the usual 8:00am, but I only got to sleep about two hours earlier, so, naturally, I was having none of it. By the time I did get up, our morning training window was all but gone, so we decided to abandon the training and go for an early lunch. We're now sitting in some small, log cabin-style café on the outskirts of town, and, since my friends are both here, busy tucking into their food, I figured that this would be the perfect time to unveil the brilliant idea I came up with last night.

So far, it's not going quite as smoothly as I imagined.

"It's not that simple, Ash," Brock replies. "We've got a schedule to keep, remember? The Sinnoh league is only held once a year, and if we're not ready in time, it's not me who's going to be walking around with a face like a smacked ass for the whole rest of the journey, now is it?"

"I…" Okay, I'll give him that one. But I'm not about to give up yet.

"Plus, I've got to practice extra hard for my next contest," Dawn chips in. "I'm not going to lose again!"

"Guys, it'd only be for the weekend, two nights tops. If we left today, we could be back here by Sunday night. And you can still practice while we're there, Dawn – in fact, I bet the change of scenery would do your pokémon some good!"

She doesn't say anything, so maybe she's actually considering it. Yes, I knew I'd get through to them eventually! Brock, meanwhile, just shakes his head, looking back down at his plate of half-eaten bacon and eggs. I open my mouth to try and persuade him some more, but as I begin to speak, I suddenly feel a weird, 'heavy' feeling in my chest, like I've just been sat on by a groudon, and end up saying something completely different:

"I know this is short notice, Brock, but you and Dawn have both said that I've been acting funny, and after last night, I'm more confused than I was before. I just…I feel like, er, like I need to do this…you know?"

Well, I'm not sure what made me come out with that, but whatever it was, it seems to have got Brock's attention. He pushes his empty plate to one side and leans slightly forward to where I'm sitting across from him.

"I don't know about this," he sighs, stroking his chin. "I mean, I do want you to sort this out, for your own sake just as much as ours, but going all the way to Cerulean City to do so seems a bit extreme, doesn't it? And, more to the point, does Misty even know we're coming?"

"Well, er, no, but I'm sure she'll be happy to see us." I then put on the best puppy-dog eyes that my eighteen-year-old self can manage. "Please, Brock? I swear I'll train twice as hard when we get back!"

But I can tell he's not biting. Damn, that trick used to work so much better on Misty. Ah well, at least I've saved my best tactic till last. "Also, I think it would really help my…erm…" oh crap, what was that word again? I look over at Dawn, who silently mouths it to me, "equilibrium! Right, Brocko?"

In that moment, I see his face turn as red as the ketchup that Pikachu is happily slurping away at next to me. He mutters something I can't quite make out, then, through gritted teeth, barks, "…Fine."

Yes! I win! As I stand up to do my victory dance, however, my breeder friend's hand shoots forward and pushes me back down into my seat. "But Ash…" he begins somewhat creepily, although there's a weird little smirk on his face. "Don't ever use my own advice against me again."

I laugh nervously, not sure of how serious he is, when Dawn pipes up, "You know, I guess it would be nice to have some time off from training. I've never been to Kanto before, and when we come back, we'll all feel nice and recharged!"

We all nod in agreement, and without another word, stand up, pay our check and step outside into the midday sun.

A minute goes by, and the only sounds that can be heard are the rustling of the trees and the faint squeaks and chirps of Pikachu and Piplup as they chase each other around on the grass. Finally, it's Brock who breaks the silence:

"Well, Ash, if you're wanting to do this today, we'd better head over to the train station and sort out our tickets."

As we start to walk back in the direction of the pokémon centre, I scratch my head and clear my throat, "Um, about that. I, er, kinda already got us some."

They stop dead in their tracks, causing me to bump into Brock's back. "YOU WHAT?!" they scream at the same time.

Dawn turns around and stares me right in the face. "Why would you do something so stupid? You had no idea we were going to say yes to this! And, we've been with you all morning, so when did you even get these tickets?"

"Remember when we passed the train station on the way here, and I said I had to go to the bathroom?" Over Dawn's shoulder, I can see Brock clapping a hand over his eyes and whispering something like, "oh my god", but I ignore him and continue. "And ok, so maybe I shouldn't have got them without telling you first, but everything's fine now, you've both said you want to go, so where's the problem?"

For about thirty seconds, neither of my friends say a thing. They're looking everywhere but me – at the ground, at the sky, at each other – and it's making me feel quite uncomfortable. Was it something I said? Just as I glance over at Pikachu and Piplup playing a few feet away from us on the dirt road, I hear a small chuckle, quickly turning into light laughter, and by the time I turn my head back around, the guffawing Brock has tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Well, I guess we've got no choice now!" he splutters, his voice cracking at the end. I don't understand what's so funny, but over the years, Brock seems to have developed this habit of laughing and then being weirdly cooperative after I try for a while to talk him into doing something. Still, I'm not about to argue, since it means I get to do what I want a lot more these days. "Let's get going; we don't want to miss the train!"

"You're not mad?" I ask him as I try and keep up with the oddly fast pace he's taking.

"Oh I'm mad, alright," he says without looking at me. "But don't worry, Ash, I'm not going to do anything. When we get to Cerulean City, I'll just tell Misty about this whole fiasco, and then she can take care of you."

Uh-oh. I can practically feel her sneaker making contact with my face already.

"But there is one thing I was wondering about," Brock says, his voice a little softer now. "If you had the money to buy three last-minute cross-country train tickets to Kanto, then why the hell did you let me pay for that damn phone call last night?"

A large bead of sweat forms on the side of my head. I'd actually forgotten about that. "Oh, well, er, why don't we just call that a gift? You know, er, because I'm such a good pal to you and everything? And hey, look where it led! You got a free trip out of it!"

Dawn grins and shakes her head, while Brock continues to stare at me with the stoniest look imaginable. Rolling my eyes, I reach into my pocket and flick a few pieces of loose change the pokémon breeder's way. "Cheapskate."

* * *

The journey to Kanto was, all in all, a pretty long and uncomfortable one. Since the Sinnoh region is an island, we first had to take a train to the coast, then a ferry across the short stretch of ocean between regions, before finally boarding another train directly to Cerulean City. Brock and Dawn managed to busy themselves with books and magazines for most of the trip, while I mostly just flicked through my latest pokédex entries and stared at the scenery out of the window. The ferry ride allowed us to walk around and stretch our legs for a bit, which was especially good for Pikachu and Piplup, who were both quite restless during the first train journey. By the time evening rolled around, however, everyone seemed to be pretty drained. The Pokémon tired themselves out from playing on the ferry, so were asleep for the last leg of the trip, and although my two human friends occasionally asked each other a question or pointed out something interesting in the distance, they also looked like they might drop off any second. But I wasn't tired at all. As I sat with my head against the train window, eyes shifting between the golden sunset and the bright green blur of the surrounding countryside, I found myself, for the second day in a row, thinking of nothing but the feeling of seeing my best friend again.

When I first started my journey, I was more than happy to go it alone. My dream of becoming a pokémon master came before everything else, and I wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of that. Then I got fished out of a river by a bad-tempered redhead, and everything changed. Now, more than eight years later, it's impossible to imagine my journey without the amazing friends I've met along the way. Brock was right about one thing; this trip has really set me back financially, but something in the back of my head keeps telling me that it's going to be worth it. Misty and I may have been at each other's throats most of the time when we were travelling together, but she was pretty much the first real friend I ever had, and I really think I ought to repay her for that.

The giant seaking-shaped clock in the middle of the Cerulean train station chimes 9pm as we step down from the carriage and make our way through the crowds towards the exit. Once we make it outside, I shiver slightly at the chilly night air on my face, but quickly settle into it; it was far too hot on the train anyway. The sky is almost completely dark now, but even so, looking along the line of streetlights down the road, I'm surprised by how well I remember the place. The last time I was here was when I was on my way to the Battle Factory over a year ago, which was also the last time I saw Misty, and I can't forget how happy I was when I found out that we would be able to travel together for a while. Of course, she had to leave again, but I guess none of that matters now, because we always seem to find our way back to each other somehow – even if this particular way happened to involve an eight-and-a-half-hour journey across the country.

I turn around to see Brock and Dawn, stretching and yawning while they drop their backpacks to the ground. "Come on, guys!" I can barely contain my excitement. "We're only a few minutes away!"

"Ash, it's pretty late now; don't you think we should just check in at the pokémon centre tonight?" Brock asks.

"What? Don't be silly, Brock, the gym's much closer than the pokémon centre. And, if we don't go and see Misty 'til tomorrow, then what was the point of coming here?"

Before they have a chance to reply, I shout, "Come on, Pikachu!" and, as my electric buddy hops onto my shoulder, I take off down the dimly lit street.

 _Staying at the pokémon centre…how can they even say that?_  I think to myself angrily. I know that Dawn hasn't met Misty, so I'd understand if she wasn't as eager to stay at the gym as I was, but Brock? He's known Misty almost as long as me, and coming back to Cerulean City should feel just like old times, right? Ah well, maybe he just doesn't want to get a mallet in the face for turning up unannounced – but I didn't come all this way to spend the weekend in another damn pokémon centre.

As I turn the corner, a familiar sight at the end of the road brings a huge smile to my face. The purple and yellow striped dome with its giant dewgong statue has always reminded me of my childhood, from the time I earned my Cascade Badge to the visits we paid to Misty's sisters in-between regions, and only now have I just realised that this is the first time I'll have been here as an adult. Huh. You know, there's something quite sad about that.

But I'm not about to let that spoil my mood. I burst through the front gate and race up the short path to the front door of the gym. Taking a moment to straighten my jacket and brush some of my hair out of my eyes, I lift my arm up in front of me, but just before I can lean in far enough to press the doorbell, I stop dead.

This is really weird – what's happening to me? My mouth is drier than a sandshrew's tummy, my heart is beating out of my chest, and is that…am I…sweating? What's more, it suddenly feels like I've been standing in this spot for hours, my arm outstretched with my index finger literally centimetres from the door. I'm not sure how long it's been exactly, but as I hear footsteps from behind me, I realise I've at least given my friends a chance to catch up with me.

"So this is the Cerulean gym," Dawn says to my left. "It looks so cool! I love all those bright col- er, Ash? Are you alright?"

I open my mouth, but no words seem to come out.

"Ash, come on, just ring the bell already, it's  _freezing_  out here!"

My arm lazily flops back to my side, and when I turn around to meet their eyes, they both seem a little shocked. I hang my head, clear my throat and mumble, "Um, do you think that maybe, er, you could…"

Thankfully, it looks like Brock knows what I'm trying to say, because he stops me mid-sentence by stepping up to the entrance and pressing in the swirl on the poliwhirl-shaped doorbell.

Smiling, he pats me on the shoulder. "It's okay, buddy. I understand." Well, that makes one of us.

The next few seconds give me a chance to try and catch my breath before the chiming of the bell stops and the wooden doors slowly creak open, revealing the shape of one that I would recognise anywhere…

"Psy?"

We stare blankly at the small, yellow duck as it cocks its head to the side and chants its name in a confused sort of way. Seconds later, a pale hand appears from behind the door and grabs it by the scruff of the neck.

"Psyduck! Get back inside now! What have I told you about coming out of your pokéball in the middle of the ni-"

The shadowy figure breaks off suddenly, walking forward into the light of the front porch, and, as soon as our eyes meet, my legs almost give out underneath me. Her mouth is slightly open, and her face looks a little flushed –  _probably from chasing Psyduck around the gym_ , I decide – but, strangely, she doesn't say anything straight away. She's wearing some kind of yellow, sleeveless hoodie and slightly longer, baggier jean shorts than normal, and her vibrant hair is exactly how I remember it, if a little messier (I imagine she's just been running her hands through it all night at her desk). Her bluish-green eyes are fixed on me as if she's waiting for something, but I'm praying that I don't have to speak first, because, for maybe the first time in my life, I just don't know what to say. Just when the silence begins to feel uncomfortable, there's a shift in weight on my right shoulder and a flash of yellow fur leaps away from me.

"Pikachupi!"

"Hey, Pikachu!" she giggles as she catches my Pika-pal in her arms, cuddling him close to her chest. Seeing my two best friends so happy to see each other causes me to let out a huge sigh of relief, and I'm glad to see that, in this moment, it seems all the awkwardness between us has gone.

"Hi, Misty," I say with a soft smile. "It's, er, nice to see you again."

"It's great to see you too, Ash! And oh, hi Brock! What are you guys doing here?"

"What else? We're here to see you, of course!"

She raises her eyebrow, then giggles again as she beckons us into the lobby. "Yeah right, like I'm supposed to believe you came all the way from Sinnoh just to spend time with me. Is it the Battle Frontier again? Or are you here for that damn fashion show in Saffron City?"

"I'm serious, Mist! We've all been training really hard lately, so we thought we'd come here for a little break. And, well, after we spoke on the phone last night and you told me the gym was closed for the next few days, I figured you could use some company, so, er, here we are!"

Her smile disappears, and she takes a step forward, Pikachu still in her arms. It's at this point that I notice I'm now a little bit taller than her. "Really?"

But although she's looking at me, it's Dawn who gives her the answer. "It's true, we all needed a vacation so we hopped on the first train here. Ash has never stopped talking about it since last night!"

There's a short pause as my newest friend blushes slightly then holds out her hand. "Oh, er, sorry. I'm Dawn, by the way. I've heard so much about you!"

"Nothing to be sorry about, Dawn, it's nice to meet you!" Misty smiles, shaking Dawn's hand. "I'm Misty. I'm the gym leader here."

She then directs us over to the waiting area of the gym where Brock, Dawn and I each take a seat along the row of chairs. "So, do you guys have anywhere to stay tonight?"

"Sure we do! We can stay here at the gym!"

She places her hands on her hips and leans down so her face is level with mine. "Oh, is that so? Well, I'm afraid we've just implemented a new policy – I call it the 'no brain, no bed' policy – so I'm sorry, Mr. Pokémon Master, it looks like you're sleeping outside!"

"What?! When did you implement this?"

"Just now. You like it?" she grins while she reaches over and tries to flick me on the nose, just like she used to. I'm prepared for it this time, though, and I grab her arm, yanking it towards me. The next part I'm definitely  _not_  prepared for, however, as this causes her to fall forward, right into my lap. Instinctively, I shut my eyes, but when I open them again moments later, I find myself looking straight into the eyes of my best friend, only a few inches away from mine. One of her hands is pressing down on my shoulder, while her other is on the back of the chair, and as I try to shift my head slightly, I notice that the peak of my hat is the only thing stopping our noses from touching. I don't think my face has ever been so hot before; it almost feels like I'm going to pass out. To my surprise, though, it looks like Misty's face is just as red as mine. I gulp softly and stutter out a quick, "s-s-sorry…", but neither one of us makes a move to get up. Only when Brock clears his throat loudly do we finally jump apart, trying our hardest to avoid each other's gaze.

"Erm, actually, we were just thinking of heading over to the Pokémon centre for the night. We didn't want to impose."

"Oh Brock, I wouldn't hear of it!" she replies, a little breathlessly. "Of course you're all welcome to stay here! It'll take a few minutes to set up the guest room, which, of course, wouldn't have been a problem if  _someone_ had told me you were coming."

She turns to me for the first time since the, er, incident, and gives me a playful glare. "I'll run upstairs and get everything sorted now. Make yourselves at home!"

With that, she skips over to the end of the room and disappears up the stairs towards the gym's living quarters.

As soon as the three of us are alone again, Dawn reaches over and taps me on the arm, an excited grin on her face. "Ash, she's beautiful! Why on earth haven't you spoken to her in so long?"

I barely even listen to what she said, because I'm still trying to make sense of what just happened between Misty and me. We were so close to each other, and neither of us seemed to want to move away. I should have been completely traumatised, but somehow it felt, I don't know,  _right?_

"I, er…I guess I just forgot."

"How could you forget someone like that? She's so nice! No wonder you love her so much – I'm almost jealous!" Her voice changes to a kind of singsong tone. "And, judging by what I just saw, it looks like you've got this thing in the bag!"

I scrape my eyes over to the left where the smirking coordinator is sitting two seats away from me, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please, you expect us to believe that was an accident? She was practically sitting on your knee, and if your hat wasn't in the way, the two of you would already be making o-"

"JUST DROP IT, WILL YOU?!" I yell, a bit louder than I meant to. "I never even said that I…well, you know…we're just best friends, okay? Best friends who haven't seen each other for ages. And, for the record, that actually  _was_  an accident."

Dawn's smile fades a bit after my outburst, but it seems she can't resist one last little jab. "Whatever you say,  _Mr. Pokémon Master_."

Slumping back in my chair, I pull my hat over my eyes to hide the colour of embarrassment in my cheeks. I'm confused enough as it is; I don't need them rubbing it in at every chance they get. Sure, that 'prank' I tried to pull didn't exactly work out the way I'd planned, but this vacation's just beginning, and I have to think,  _surely it's got to get better than this, right_?

As my eyes lock themselves on the door Misty escaped through a few minutes ago, Brock, who has been weirdly quiet up until now, mutters something to Dawn under his breath. "See what I mean? Equilibrium."

 _Okay, maybe not_.

* * *

It doesn't take long for Misty to come bounding back down the stairs, sticking her head around the door and beckoning us to follow her up to the Waterflowers' living room. Once we each enter, my eyes need a few seconds to adjust to how, er,  _blue_  the room is. I've been up here quite a few times before, but it always amazes me just how obsessed Misty's family is with all things water-related. Speaking of family, as I look across the room, I notice the three Sensational Sisters, Daisy, Violet and Lily, sitting on the horseshoe of sofas around the huge TV on the wall. They're watching some sappy chick-flick or something, but apparently it's as boring as it looks, because as soon as we step further into the room, they throw off their blankets and come racing toward us.

"Like, hey Ash! Hey Brock! Pikachu, oh, you're still, like, so cute! And oh, who's your friend?"

Their reactions aren't as wild as Daisy's was on the phone last night, which makes me think that Misty may have told them we were here when she originally went upstairs. It's probably just as well, since it looks like Brock's about to faint from the attention he's getting as it is. As Misty introduces Dawn to each of her sisters, I plop down on one of the sofas and take the time to look around the place. Though the living room could easily hold five times as many people as there are now, I've always thought that, considering the size of the gym, the living quarters as a whole were pretty small. Then again, they probably have a lot of equipment to store around the building, which must take up a lot of space on this floor. I suppose not many gym leaders actually live inside their gyms, especially when those gyms happen to also be a theatre  _and_  an aquarium.  _Wow, Misty must really have her work cut out for her_ , I realise all of a sudden. As I look over to my closest friend, a sharp twinge of guilt makes its way into my chest.  _No wonder she was so sad to leave…_

The conversation then turns to Dawn's progress as a pokémon coordinator, something that Daisy, Violet and Lily in particular seem weirdly fascinated by. They all make their way over to the sofas, with Misty sitting down next to me, Brock and Dawn on the sofa across from us, and the giggling Waterflower trio squeezing themselves together at the end of the horseshoe, opposite their annoying girly stuff on the TV. Misty turns to look at me, smiling, and when I look around at Brock, I notice that he's doing the same. Nobody says anything, but I feel like I know exactly what we're all thinking – it's so good to have the old gang back together.

"So, Misty," Brock finally breaks the silence, "Ash told me about the gym being out of commission for a while. How did that happen?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it! I see the kid's ivysaur gathering sunlight, so I tell Gyarados to use Protect, and the next thing I know, bits of roof are raining down into the pool!"

"Wait, are you saying that Protect didn't absorb the Solarbeam?"

"Yeah, it just redirected it towards the ceiling; it's so weird!"

"Wow, I've never seen that happen before," I join in. "Do you think Gyarados was just tired or something?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "I dunno. I guess I have been working my Pokémon hard lately. But hey, that's not even the worst part!"

Brock and I lean in slightly.

"A few hours later, there was this huge thunderstorm, and the whole pool area ended up about a foot underwater!"

"Oh no, that sounds awful!" Dawn exclaims as I realise that everyone in the room is now listening in on this conversation.

"It  _was_  awful!" wails Violet. "There was, like, mud and leaves and water everywhere! As soon as I looked in there I was like, 'uh-uh, I gotta go get some coffee or something, I can NOT get mud on this new skirt!'"

"We kept draining the pool, but it just, like, filled right back up again," Daisy adds.

"And you'll never guess who had to stay up all night cleaning the place," Misty groans, nudging my shoulder a little.

"Oh, like, chill out sis, we were the ones who called the Pokémon League to send guys over to patch up the roof," says Lily.

"You only did that because you wanted to see if any of the roofers were hot!"

"Like, you're just jealous because they'd never look at a runt like you."

"Grrrr…!"

My eyes circle the room, trying to gauge the reactions of everyone present. Dawn looks pretty uncomfortable, as she's probably never seen anything like this before; Brock is still blushing and drooling like a bulbasaur on pokénip; Violet and Lily are both examining their polished nails in their own little worlds; and I can practically feel the heat coming off Misty as her blood boils to the left of me. Daisy, on the other hand, looks slightly worried, as if she knows this will probably escalate into something ugly, so tries to change the subject.

"So, er, do you three, like, have any idea what you want to do while you're here?"

Thankfully, that seems to do the trick, as everyone suddenly looks much calmer. "I'd love to have a look around the city at some point," says Dawn. "I've heard Cerulean City is just beautiful in the Springtime!"

"That sounds like a great idea, Dawn," Misty says with a smile. "We could always go down to the mall, too; there's a huge sale on around this time of year. They've even got a little store for coordinators. I've never been in, but I think you'd really love it!"

After an excited, "Thanks, Misty!" from Dawn, I can't help but make an unimpressed grunt at my friend's suggestion.

"What was that, Ash?" she asks in a sarcastically 'sweet' voice.

"Misty, shopping's boring. It takes hours and you always make me carry the bags!"

She tucks her legs underneath her on the seat and shuffles round so her whole body is facing me. "Well if you didn't stop to whine every five minutes then maybe it wouldn't take so long!"

"What?! I never  _whine_!"

"Yes you do!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"DO NOT!"

"DO TOO!"

Before one of us has a chance to hurl something at the other, Brock leaps forward and pulls me back by the shoulders, and, once I give up struggling, I see that Daisy has done the same to Misty.

"Like, seriously, guys, when are you going to grow out of this?"

Once they let us go, we crawl over to opposite ends of the sofa and sit with our backs to each other, arms folded and eyes fixed angrily on the carpet.

"I guess some things never change," Brock laughs.

"We should, like, get some sleep now," I hear either Violet or Lily say from behind me. "We've got to get up, like, super early tomorrow for the Saffron fashion show. We're the guests of honour!"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to turn in, too. The journey here really took it out of me," yawns Dawn.

I tear my eyes away from the floor and look slightly around to see most of the room moving towards the side door leading to the bedrooms. I faintly hear Daisy offering to show Brock and Dawn to the guest room, to which Brock responds by taking her hand and showering her with his usual lovey-dovey crap. I swear I can hear some of his 'science poetry' in there somewhere, too; damn, I kinda hoped he'd have got sick of that by now. After a couple of quick goodnights, the group files out through the door, leaving only Pikachu, Piplup, Misty and myself in the living room, now completely silent except for the muffled voices coming from the TV.

For maybe a minute or so, we still refuse to make eye contact with each other, instead turning our attention to the two pokémon ambling about the room. I watch with interest as Piplup fires bubbles towards Pikachu, who then tries to bat them away with his tail. In that moment, Misty and I both let out a chuckle at the same time, and, realising that we can't ignore each other all night, we turn back around toward each other slowly.

"They don't seem tired at all," I hear Misty say.

I laugh softly. "Nah, they were both asleep for most of the train ride here. They'll be up for hours yet."

After a quick smile, her eyes drop to the floor. Sensing a bit of awkwardness in the air again, I quickly try and think of something else to say.

"Um, Misty?" I begin. "I, er, I'm sorry about before. I guess I just got a bit too excited." My hand flies up to the back of my head in embarrassment.

As soon as I say that, her eyes are fully on me again. She's smirking, and there's a hint of red in her cheeks. "Is Ash Ketchum actually apologising for something? Wow, you really  _have_  grown up!"

I stay silent, but stick my tongue out at her as she grins smugly. After another few seconds of silence, Misty speaks up again.

"What's that pokémon called?" She points across the room.

"That's Piplup. It's one of the Sinnoh starter pokémon."

"It's so cute! I wanted to mention it to Dawn before, but it was asleep and I didn't want to disturb it. Oh, I bet it would love to go for a swim in the pool tomorrow! The roofers say it's safe to go in there again now. You should have seen me the other day when they told me I couldn't go for my morning swim; I nearly went insa-"

"You really love the water, don't you?" I ask her without thinking, the words coming out weirdly softly.

Normally, Misty would have pummelled me for interrupting her, but as I hold my hands up in front of my face to prepare for the beating, I notice that it never comes.

"Yeah, Ash, I really do," she says in possibly the gentlest voice I've heard from her since the day she left. "I don't know what it is about it, but somehow it just makes me feel…free, you know?"

"Ever wish you could just get on a boat and sail off into the horizon?"

She nods. "All the time."

Instinctively, I reach over and place my hand on her shoulder. I feel her tense up a bit at first, but she soon relaxes into it. "I've always felt that way about travelling. I keep thinking that no matter how far I go, how many things I see, I'll never get tired of this. I could travel to every corner of the world, and I still don't think I would want to stop."

She's looking straight into my eyes. It's an intense look, but I can't tell if it's happy or sad.

"But recently, I've also been thinking about how many people I've met on my journey, how many great friends I've made, and, I don't know, I guess it just sucks to always have to leave them behind. My Mom, too, I know how much she misses me. I just sometimes feel like I'm not being fair to you guys, all because I'm so desperate to be the best."

"Ash…" she whispers, and just for a second, I think I can see a trace of that sparkle in her eyes from last night before her fist slams into the top of my head.

"Don't you dare speak like that! Do you think we don't know how much this means to you? You've wanted to be a pokémon master your whole life, and nobody – not me, not Brock, and definitely not your Mom – is going to get in the way of that! When have I ever said you need to come visit me instead of going to challenge a gym, or train for a contest, or whatever else you do these days? Never, that's when! In fact, why are you even here now? Maybe you should just g-"

As soon as I hear what sounds like a sob underneath all of her yelling, I immediately cut her off by wrapping my arms around her and pulling her in close. She stiffens slightly from the shock, but after a few seconds I feel her arms tighten around my neck and her face nuzzle into my shoulder. Her soft hair tickles my cheek, and as I hear a slight hiccup from the distressed gym leader, I begin to rub her back up and down lightly. We've never really hugged before – at least, not like this – and right now I can't even begin to describe the feeling that's shooting all through my body. I feel nervous, but calm; happy, but sad; sick to my stomach, but absolutely bursting with energy. I want to sing and cry at the same time, holding onto my best human friend in the world, and, looking around at the back of her bright orange head, I can't help but wonder if she can feel this, too. No pokémon battle has ever made me feel this way; no birthday celebration I've had, no gym badge I've won, no single moment in my life can compare with what is happening right now. I should be scared out of my mind, but although my thoughts and emotions are going crazy, something inside of me is whispering,  _don't fight it, this is right_. How can I feel so uncertain, yet at the same time so…balanced?

Ugh, please tell me I didn't just say that. Brock's going to have a field day.

"I'm s-sorry, Ash," Misty whimpers, gently pulling out of the hug and rubbing her eyes, their redness matching my face. "I didn't mean that. It's just…you're my best friend, and I want nothing more than for you to achieve your dream. I believe in you, Ash. I…er, I…"

She looks away, tears gone but the colour in her cheeks only getting stronger. I lean in slightly, anxious to hear what she is trying to say. "I mean, er, Ash I….um…"

I don't think I've ever seen her this nervous. "Misty?" She slowly turns her head towards mine.

" _I love you._ "

Within half a second, our two pairs of eyes open wider than a golbat's mouth as my best friend and I spring away from each other in shock. Looking over my shoulder, I notice that the TV is still playing that same annoying chick-flick from before, and, when I pull something hard out from underneath me, I realise with an inward groan that I could not have picked a worse time to sit on the volume control.

"Sorry," I quickly say, still short of breath after what just happened. "Erm, what were you going to say?"

"Oh, er…" I think she got even more of a fright than I did. "I was just saying that I…I should probably get to bed now."

I can't stop my face from falling a little when she says this. There's no way that's what she wanted to say; nobody gets nervous over something like that. Instead of questioning it, though, I just nod and watch her stand up and walk over to the door, pulling it open somewhat lazily. After a quick glance over at Pikachu and Piplup, both now curled up in the corner of the room, I pass through the door Misty is holding open for me and smile at her as she joins me in the dark corridor.

"Well, goodnight, Misty!" I chime as I turn right and begin to head along to the guest room. Before I make it more than a few steps, however, I hear a soft, "Hey, Ash?"

I can barely see her when I turn back around. "Yeah?"

"Did you mean what you said on the phone last night? You know, about missing me when you were in Sinnoh?"

"Of course I did, Mist! You're my best friend too, you know." Good thing it's dark, or she would have seen my face go bright red again.

Just for a second, a strange sound comes from her direction that I can't tell is laughing or crying. "Thanks, Ash. I've missed you too. And I really am glad you guys are here. See you in the morning!"

Without another word, she strolls down the hall and quickly disappears into a small room on the left. I, on the other hand, just stand here, staring straight ahead into the darkness. That feeling is back, even stronger than before, and I think I'm finally beginning to understand what it is. Brock once tried to give me the "pidgeys and beedrills" talk, as he called it, and I remember telling him then that it was all a load of crap, but only now am I realising just how much of his advice actually sunk in (the equilibrium stuff, however, is still beyond me). To think that he and Dawn may have been right all along makes me feel like such an idiot. Hearing those words just now on the TV, spoken out loud while she was looking me straight in the eye, must have 'awoken' something deep down inside of me, something I've never been able to see before, because now I suddenly know what I need to do, what I came all this way to do. I've just got no idea how to do it.

Before heading over to my room, I take one last glance at the door that Misty Waterflower exited through some minutes ago, and, without any fear or doubt in my voice, whisper into thin air:

"I love you."


	4. Chapter 4

Last night was probably the best I've slept in over a week. I feel like a huge load has been lifted off my shoulders, one that I didn't even know was there until less than twelve hours ago, and now that it's gone, my mind is almost as clear as a xatu's. I'm in love with Misty, that much I know – or do I? The way I always saw it, love had nothing to do with pokémon, so why did I need to know about it? Mom's never spoken to me about love besides what she used to tell me about my dad, but that topic always seemed to make her sad, so those conversations never lasted very long, and although I've heard some of my friends bring up the subject before, I barely took in what they were saying, since it always just sounded like a load of flowery nonsense back then. Okay, so maybe I'm not quite as clear on this as I thought, but only because there's nothing I can compare my feelings to. Whether it really is love or not, though, I do know that I like feeling this way, and right now, that seems like progress enough. What to do next? I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

It's around 6am, and my eyes flutter open gently to the muffled sound of voices coming from the floor below. Even though I'm still half-asleep, I can tell straight away that they're Misty and Daisy's voices, and, since I don't hear any screaming or shattering of bones, I figure it must be an important conversation; either that, or Misty's just tired. Propping myself up against the headboard, I stretch my arms out in front of me before rolling out of the side of the bed and pressing my ear to the guest room's blue, goldeen-themed carpet:

"Are you seriously taking a whole tour bus full of clothes? The fashion show only lasts for half a day!"

"Oh Misty, you can never have too many clothes. We need, like, fifteen wardrobe changes for the catwalk alone, and then there's one for our guest of honour speech, the dinner, the after-party, the  _after_ -after-party-"

"Yeah, okay, Daisy, I get the picture. So I take it you're not getting in till late?"

"Like, who knows. Depends how many hot movie stars are there!"

"Don't tell me that  _dreadful_  Fiorello Cappuccino's going."

I can't help but let out a small snigger at Misty's last comment. That guy was just awful.

"Hey, like, now you mention it, I think he is! I'll tell him you said hi, shall I?"

"Eww, Daisy, the guy's old enough to be my dad! Anyway, I'm not, er, looking for anyone right now."

There's a slight pause, although I'm pretty sure I can hear a bit of light laughter from the elder Waterflower.

"Ohhhh, I see! 'Cause you've already found him, right? Like, are you going to tell him?"

"What? What are you talking about? Tell him what? And, er, tell who, for that matter?"

"Oh please, Misty, I'm your big sister. You can't, like, hide this sort of thing from me."

"Hide wha…I mean I…ugh. Is it that obvious?"

"Are you kidding? You're, like, a terrible liar. I've known about this for years, since before you left for Johto."

"…You have?"

"Of course I have! Oh don't look at me like that, baby sis, I think it's, like, totally adorable!"

Naturally, I'm completely lost at this point, but I keep my face glued to the carpet, squashing it in a little further as I strain my ears to hear Misty's voice, now softer than before.

"Daisy, I…I just don't know if this is the right time. I mean, I want to, but maybe it's not that important right now…you know?"

"No, Misty, it's very important. I've heard you crying in your room at night, and don't tell me it's about something else. Then there's all those letters under your pillow, and the way you stare at the phone like you're just dying for it to ring. I can tell this means more to you than anything, even your Pokémon, so yes, this is absolutely the right time. Haven't you waited long enough? You've just turned  _nineteen_ ; if not now, then when?"

Just then, I hear two beeps of a horn from outside, followed by the starting of an engine.

"Oh, sounds like it's time to go!" Daisy says excitedly. "I'll leave a message on the answering machine when we're on our way back."

The automatic glass doors at the front of the gym make their familiar trill as they slide apart, and, judging by the faint footsteps getting quieter and quieter, I'm guessing Daisy is making her way over to the coach.

"Daisy?"

The footsteps stop. "Yeah, Misty?"

"I, er…thanks. You know, erm, for not teasing me about, well, him."

"Anytime, sis. Just make sure you tell him, okay? When I get back you'd better be happier than a mudkip in a monsoon, you hear me? Like, good luck!"

About a minute passes, and the sounds of the Sensational Sisters' tour bus gradually fade away, leaving nothing but silence from the foyer directly below me. I unstick my ear from the floor and climb back into bed, trying my hardest to piece together any of what I just heard from downstairs. So, Misty has something she wants to tell some guy? Huh. Doesn't sound like a very big deal to me. I wonder if I know him?

Deciding not to dwell on such a strange conversation any longer than I already have, I shut my eyes and try to squeeze a little more sleep out of this morning. How anyone manages to get up by 6am is totally beyond me.

* * *

 _Okay, 8:30, that's more like it_ , I think as I set my pokédex down and throw off the covers. Looking to the right of me, I notice that Brock and Dawn's beds are both empty (although you'd never even know Brock had been here by how neatly his bed is made). Pikachu is also missing, but, as a sudden whiff of buttered toast fills my nostrils, I decide not to worry and instead bound out of the room, down the hall, through the living room and into the kitchen, feeling the cold chill of tiles on my bare feet.

Like the living room, the Waterflowers' kitchen is quite a long, narrow room, bending around slightly due to the Cerulean gym's circular shape. Smooth, black benches frame the sides all the way to the back, and a long, wooden table sits in the centre, where I find Brock and Pikachu digging into generous plates of toast and pokéchow.

"Morning, Ash," says Brock through a mouthful of bread. "Sleep well?"

Pikachu squeaks out a quick "Pikapi", jumping up and down on the table for a second before turning back to his breakfast.

"Yeah, actually, best I've had all week," I say as I take a seat across from my breeder friend. "Where's everyone else?"

"Misty's sisters are off to that fashion show in Saffron," he mumbles with a kind of wobbly tone in his voice like he's going to cry. "Oh, why did they have to leave so soon?!"

I snap my fingers in front of his face. "Yes, yes, and the others?"

"Oh, right. Misty left that note for you," Brock replies, pointing across the table at a small piece of paper next to a pile of untouched toast.

Reaching over, I slide the paper along to where I'm sitting, grinning when I see the borders decorated with little staryu and starmie. When I look down at Misty's impossibly neat handwriting, I feel my cheeks start to tingle ever so slightly, but shake it off as my eyes dart across her words:

_Ash,_

_I've taken Dawn out to see the city and to do some shopping. Figured you still wouldn't want to come so I didn't bother waking you up. Will probably be back by about midday – don't do anything stupid while I'm gone._

_Love,_

_Misty_

I read over the note a few times, examining every stroke and curl of her fancy writing style. The word 'love' is weirdly smudged, and the paper looks dented as if it's been repeatedly rubbed out and then pencilled back in. Surely it's not too difficult a word to spell, right? Ah well, if I had to get up before 6 in the morning every day, I'm sure I'd make a lot more spelling mistakes too.

"Satisfied?" Brock asks across from me, a slight grin on his face. "She also made that toast for you."

My eyes widen in shock, and a cold flush sweeps over my body. "Misty made me…breakfast?"

Brock laughs, shaking his head. "Oh come on, Ash, I know you're still recovering from the last time Misty cooked for you, but I think even she can manage putting bread into a toaster for a couple of minutes. If I were you, I'd just appreciate the gesture."

Recovering…boy, is that an understatement. Whatever that mystery slop was almost sent me to the hospital. Eyeing the butter-soaked plate with suspicion, I pinch the top slice between my thumb and forefinger and nibble at the corner slightly. Seconds later, after I convince myself it's safe, I waste no time in demolishing the rest of the pile, unleashing a loud victory belch at the end.

Brock tut-tuts at me in disgust. "You know, if Misty had seen you do that, you'd be eating the rest of your meals through a straw."

"Whatever. So why didn't you go with them?"

"Eh, shopping's not really my thing either. Plus, Misty needed someone to feed the pokémon for her. Speaking of which, I should probably head down there now. Wanna give me a hand?"

"Sure!" I turn to the left, stroking the yellow ball of fur next to me. "Ready to go play with Misty's pokémon, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" He cries, hopping onto my shoulder as I stand up, stack the empty plates next to the sink and walk with Brock down to the pool.

* * *

"Come on out, everyone!"

On the count of three, Brock and I both release our armfuls of pokéballs into the air, and within seconds, the Cerulean gym's Olympic-sized pool is overrun with hyperactive pokémon, all eager to be fed. Their hungry cries are deafening, and half of them don't even seem to have noticed us, as they splash about from one end of the pool to another, water spilling over the edges and drenching our feet.

We look at each other nervously before wheeling out the trolley of pokémon food from behind us and sifting through the stacks of jars, each labelled with a picture of one of Misty's pokémon. Brock decides to take the middle level, while I reach for the nearest jar on the top and edge carefully over to the edge of the pool.

"Er…Politoed?" I try and shout over the shrieks of the excited pokémon, but I can just barely hear myself, let alone the green frog currently doing somersaults underwater. I grab another jar and try again.

"Starmie? Come and get your grub!"

Still nothing. I turn to Brock, who looks to be having just as much trouble as me, and, cupping my hands around my mouth, yell, "How does Misty do this all by herself?"

"Ash, they haven't been in the pool for two days because of the workers fixing the roof! They must be pretty stir crazy by now!"

I glance upwards at the huge hole in the ceiling, covered crudely by wooden boards. Most of the opposite wall is littered with ladders and scaffolding, but, strangely, there are no workers to be seen.

"So what do we do?"

"Okay, let's just stay calm and try to figure this o-"

"Pi-ka-CHUUUUUU!"

A blinding yellow light erupts from the ground at my feet, lighting up the entire pool and causing me to snap my eyes shut. When I open them, the light has gone, and about twenty charred and dazed water pokémon float groggily on the water's surface.

"Pi pika chu pi! Cha!" my thundershocking buddy shouts across at his victims. Moments later, each of the pokémon shakes off its dizziness and quietly lines up at the edge of the pool, smiling faces poking above the water.

"Wow," Brock exclaims. "I guess all it takes is a firm hand."

I nod in agreement, smiling to myself; if there's one thing Misty's never had trouble with, it's being able to solve any problem using violence.

Over the next fifteen minutes or so, Brock, Pikachu and I patiently hand out the measured portions of pokéchow to Misty's grateful pokémon. I travel up and down the line, making sure to greet the ones I remember from the Kanto and Johto days and introduce myself to all the new faces. Apart from the odd question about 'whose food goes in which bowl' and the like, we work in a comfortable silence, focused on the job at hand. Pretty soon, though, my mind begins to wander, and before I know it, my thoughts are right back on my feelings for a certain redheaded gym leader. How am I going to know for sure if I love her? I've got to ask someone, but the only one here right now is-

Oh boy. I'm actually about to ask the Nurse's Bane himself for relationship advice. These really are desperate times.

"Hey, Brock?"

The self-proclaimed Love Master looks up, cradling Misty's azurill in his arms. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well, er…" I bite my lip and look down at the ground. "How does it feel when you're, er, you know…in love with someone?"

Setting the baby pokémon down beside the pool, Brock stands up straight and walks over to me, smirking. "Now why would you ask something like that, Ash?"

I can feel myself starting to blush. "Er, no reason! Just, erm, curious, you know?

He stares at me, arms folded, and the look on his face tells me instantly that he doesn't believe me, but I quickly realise I'm too tired to keep this charade up.

"Ugh, fine. Well, er, it's about something Dawn said to me the night before we left for Cerulean City, about why I've been acting weird lately. I'm not sure I believed her at the time, but ever since we got here, I've been feeling…argh, I don't even know how to describe it. It's a good feeling, though, or, at least, I think it is. Ok, long story short…I think I'm in love with Misty."

My eyes are shut tight, and my hands are balled into fists at my side. As my face reddens deeper, the sounds of the splashing pokémon fade to a blur in the background, and I start to count the seconds until I hear the boom of my friend's inevitable overreaction.

Here it comes…any minute now…oh come on Brock, just get it over w-

"HA! I KNEW IT!" I almost jump out of my skin. "I knew you weren't as dense as everyone said you were! Oh, wait 'til I tell Tracey! And Delia, she'll probably throw a party! I always believed, Ash, I always thought you'd come to your senses one day!"

I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. He's practically floating off the ground with joy. "Whoa, hey, Brock, calm down! I only said I  _think_  I am! And why are you so excited about this anyway?"

"Are you serious? I've wanted you guys to get together ever since I met you! I know people said that all the time on our journey, but I'll always be the first one who noticed! Well, unless you count Team Rocket, that is."

I'm about to reply, but something about what Brock just said suddenly sinks in. There really were a lot of people who thought Misty and I were a couple, weren't there? Does this mean I could have had feelings for her since the beginning?

"Er, yeah, sure, Brock, but that still doesn't answer my question. How does it actually  _feel_  to love someone? I just need to know if this is real or not, you know?"

After I say that, he returns to normal almost instantly, turning back around to look me square in the eye.

"Love is a very complex emotion, Ash. Everybody experiences it differently, so the symptoms vary from person to person. The connection you and Misty have is unlike anything I've ever seen; you constantly tear each other apart – almost literally, sometimes – but fate always seems to bring the two of you back together. When you told me about your idea to come to Cerulean for the weekend, you said it was so we could take a break from training and hang out with Misty – but I think you always knew, deep down, why you really wanted to come here. You wanted to tell her how you feel about her."

He smiles at me slightly, then takes a breath and continues. "I could go on all day about how love is 'supposed' to feel, how you're 'supposed' to act, yada yada yada, but it's not like that stuff's set in stone, and trying to explain why is only going to confuse you more. Trust me, Ash, you do love Misty. Anyone who's been in the same room as the two of you for five minutes could see that, and I've known you for over  _eight years_. The main question now is: what are you going to do about it?"

I scratch my head awkwardly. "Actually, that was going to be my next question."

He sighs, copying my head scratching as he stares past me in deep thought. For someone who's never been remotely close to a woman, Brock sure does fancy himself an expert on matters of the heart. In his defence, he's just managed to sum up my relationship with Misty better than I ever could – but I can tell I've got him stumped on this one.

"Um, well…" he stutters, trying his best to act like he knows what he's talking about. "You could try, erm, complimenting her? I know you've always thought she's pretty, so why not let her know once in a while?"

I scrunch my face up in annoyance. "Compliments? Is that the best you've got?"

He shrugs. "It's a start, at least. Personally, I prefer a more, er,  _direct_  approach, hehehe…but for a novice like yourself, it's probably best to take this slowly."

 _Novice_? Who does he think he's talking to? I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and there's no challenge I can't overcome! Then again, I've seen Brock around girls, and that scares me more than anything Misty could do to me if I mess this up, so maybe just being a 'novice' in his mind isn't such a bad thing.

"Okay, sure," I say, trying to wrap this up quickly. "Thanks, Brock."

As I bend down to continue tending to the pokémon by the pool, I hear my friend speak up again. "Don't thank me, buddy, thank Professor Oak. Man, that book of his is a godsend! If only I'd got my hands on it years ago! Tell me, Ash," he starts with a mischievous glint in his eye, "Now that we're in Cerulean City like you wanted, how's the old equilibrium doing, eh? Feeling more comfortable now you've found your opposing force?"

I swear to god, if I ever see that damn book I'm going to feed it to my snorlax. "You know I've still got no idea what any of that means, don't you?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. The day's still young, after all!"

He laughs as I grumble bitterly at him. Why does he insist on being so secretive about this? "Can you at least give me a clue?" I snarl at him through clenched teeth.

"Hmm…okay, Ash, why don't you challenge Misty to a pokémon battle when she and Dawn get back? It'll be just like old times, and, you never know, you just might learn something!"

As soon as I hear the words 'pokémon battle', my mood immediately picks up again. "Hey, that's a great idea! It'd be great to see how well some of these guys can battle!" I gesture towards the pokémon in the pool that I've never seen before.

"Speaking of which," Brock interjects, a slightly shaky tone to his voice, "there's still one left to feed."

Reaching behind him, he pulls out a lone pokéball, eyeing it with a mixture of fear and curiosity. As he moves it about in his hand, the light bounces off the red section, lighting up a smudge shaped suspiciously like a pair of lips. I know Misty eventually developed a habit of kissing her pokéballs before throwing them, but she only started doing that after she got her gya-

Uh-oh.

Within seconds of Brock hurling the ball, a flash of light and a thunderous "RAAAAOOOOOOO!" are all I can make sense of before a gigantic tidal wave slaps us straight into the wall at the other end of the gym.

* * *

All in all, I think it's taken Brock, Pikachu and I about two hours to calm Gyarados down, feed it, return all of the pokémon back to their pokéballs, and sweep the water off the poolside enough that Misty hopefully wouldn't notice. She does, though; before she and Dawn have even stepped through the door, I can hear her screaming my name as she barks out things like, "You had one job!" and "I leave you alone for a few hours and this is what I come back to?!" Once Brock explains the situation, she tries her best to keep up her angry face, but I know her better than anyone, and the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth tells me straight away that I'm off the hook. Of course, that doesn't stop her from glaring at me every five seconds, but who am I to argue with that? I've just discovered how cute she looks when she's annoyed!

After a quick lunch upstairs, however, it's not long before Misty frogmarches us right back into the arena to clean up our mess. "If you'd done it right the first time then you wouldn't have to do it again," she tells me through a sickeningly smug grin, pushing a mop into each of our hands and shooing us through the pool entrance. I guess she must have taken pity on us, though, because, five minutes later, she and Dawn reappear with their own mops and buckets, plopping them down beside us as they giggle over something we're clearly not allowed to be part of.

"Well, I see that you and Dawn are best pals by now," I say somewhat coldly, my eyes following the swishing motion of my mop along the poolside.

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Misty teases as her mopping syncs up with mine.

"Ha, you wish."

She sticks her tongue out at me. "Well, as it turns out, Dawn and I have a lot of common. We both love pokémon, shopping, and even the same flavours of ice cream! How weird is that?"

"Aww man, you guys got ice cream?"

"Yep, and you would have got some if you weren't being a baby about coming to the mall with us."

"Hey, I wasn't being a baby! Shopping with you is a nightmare!" I start to mop faster.

"Well it's just as well that you didn't come then, isn't it!" Her speed matches mine as we both angrily stare at each other.

"Fine! I had a much better time here anyway!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

Our mops are now a blur in front of us as neither me nor Misty shows any signs of backing down. Right on cue, however, a tall figure appears in front of us, and a third mop sweeps horizontally under ours, stopping the motion dead and sending the two of us toppling forward until our faces meet the hard, ridged floor of the arena.

"Come on, guys, let's not start this again." Brock looks down at us with a kind of exasperated expression.

He extends his hands to the floor, pulling us up and standing us apart from each other, his arms outstretched in the middle like a barrier.

"Argh, dammit Ash, now my clothes are all wet! When I get back, you'd better have made some progress in here!"

Before I can reply, she storms past me and out through the red double doors to the foyer.

"Nice, Ash. Real nice," Dawn mutters from behind me.

Grumbling, I snatch my mop from off the ground and continue with my sweeping. To the left of me, I hear Brock lightly saying, "Oh I wouldn't worry about it, Dawn. It's just how those two say hello."

After about five or ten minutes, the doors swing open once again, and, as I turn around to look at the emerging short-tempered gym leader, my jaw drops straight to the floor, any lingering feelings of anger instantly forgotten. She's wearing nothing but a royal blue bikini top and  _very_  short gym shorts, the familiar outfit I've seen her wear before to challenge rookie trainers, only this time, she looks kind of…different. There's a warm hint of pink to her pale, milky skin, and her orange hair stands out brilliantly against her long legs, toned abdomen and, er, other places I probably shouldn't be staring at. Wow, my face feels like it's on fire right now, but I can't seem to tear my eyes away from this girl I'm only just beginning to see for what she is. Brock was right in saying I've always considered her pretty, but, in this moment, the only word I can possibly use to describe Misty Waterflower is…

"Beautiful."

"What was that, Ash?" I suddenly notice that she's right in front of me, her head cocked slightly to the side.

Oh god, did I just say that out loud? "Erm, I was just, er, I mean, you, you're…" My bright red face droops downwards. "I was just saying I've, um, done that bit over there," I mumble, pointing to the tiniest clean spot in the corner of the room.

"Oh," she begins, and, as I look up, I swear I can see a little bit of red in her cheeks, too. "Well, er, let me give you a hand."

I smile as I hand her another mop, glad to see that she's recovered from our latest argument. Almost immediately, our sweeping patterns match up again, but this time, we seem to be moving completely counter to one another. I move forward, she moves back; I look up, she looks down; I turn one way, she turns the other. There's something quite peaceful about the strange rhythm we're keeping, but after a while I can't stop myself from sniggering, and when I tilt my head to meet her eyes, we both erupt into a fit of laughter.

"You're so weird," she giggles, smacking my arm playfully.

"You started it," I say smugly, puffing my chest out at her.

"Hey, Misty," Brock calls from a few feet away, seemingly oblivious to the previous scene. "Dawn and I were just wondering, where are all the repairmen? Shouldn't they still be here fixing the roof?"

She shrugs. "Apparently they don't work weekends. That's the Pokémon League for you. At least I don't have to pay for it – the League covers any damage caused by a challenger – but still, it's so annoying! I mean, Tracey's been over the last couple of days to help out with repairs, but I shouldn't have to burden him with this, you know?"

I raise an eyebrow at that last part. "He has?"

"Yeah. He's here a lot these days. Haven't you heard the news?"

All of a sudden, I feel a deep churning sensation in my stomach. Just where is this going? Is this what she and her sister were talking about this morning? Oh please no…

"Tracey and Daisy are engaged!"

Brock's sudden outburst of "NO WAY!" provides a perfect cover for the heavy sigh of relief I instantly feel the need to release. That was a close one. I guess it's always bothered me when Misty has received attention from guys, but now that I know how I feel about her, the thought of losing her to someone else makes me more afraid than angry. Besides my mom, Misty is the most important person in the world to me, and- wait a minute! Did she just say 'engaged'?!

As Brock tries to describe our old pokémon watcher friend to a confused-looking Dawn, I turn to face Misty, my mouth curling into an amused grin. "Tracey's really getting married? I didn't even know they were, you know, together! How long has this been going on?"

"Almost four years," she replies, matching my smile. "They started going out just after you left for Hoenn. It's too long of a story to go into, but yeah, the wedding's in the Summer! Can you believe it?"

"Oh, that sounds so cute!" Dawn chirps. "Your old travelling companion marrying your big sister – it's like something out of a movie!"

"Funny, that's what I said to Daisy when I found out! It's so roma-  _oh for Mew's sake_!" As her eyes wander across the room, her tone suddenly changes mid-sentence to one I'm much more familiar with. "Ash, you've got water all the way up in the bleachers! How is that even possible? You get over there right now and clean it up!"

"Oh, er, don't worry, Misty, I'll get that," interjects Brock to my surprise. "Wanna help me out, Dawn?"

At that moment, Brock looks at Dawn, then over at Misty and I, then back towards the pokémon coordinator, making a weird expression with his eyes. Apparently she understands the look, as her mouth eventually forms a knowing 'O'-shape and she even giggles a bit, nodding her head and making her way over to the stands at the opposite end of the gym. Just as I'm about to ask what the hell that was all about, I see Brock wink at me, gesturing with his head towards the redhead currently fussing over Piplup by the edge of the pool, and give me a brief thumbs-up before racing off.  _Ohhhh,_  I catch on quicker than usual, _I see what he's driving at…_

"I can't get over how cute you are!" Misty gushes, causing my heart to pound for a moment before I realise she's talking to the little blue penguin pokémon in the pool.

I take a deep breath, straightening my hat and jacket as I prepare to follow Brock's advice.  _You know, Misty,_ I practice internally,  _You're looking real cute today._  Nah, too casual.  _Say, has anyone ever told you how pretty you look?_  Ugh, what am I, a game show host?  _Hey Mist, you know you've really blossomed since we last met!_  Okay, that one's just creepy.

Shaking my head to try and expel all of my stupid previous attempts, I groan inwardly. Why am I making such a big deal out of this? All I need to do is go up to her and tell her how beautiful she is. Hey, maybe I can even throw in some of Brock's poetic, science-y stuff! Misty's a true romantic, so she's bound to understand it, even if I don't myself. What's the worst that can happen?

"Hey, Mist?"

"Yeah?" She looks up from her crouching position at the edge of the water.

"You know, um, your equilibrium's looking, er, pretty good today."

"Huh?"

Well, that was lame. I start to sweat as she gets up and stands directly opposite me. "Uh, I mean you look really, er…" I wrack my brain to try and recall the words Brock used, "balanced?"

For a moment, she just stares at me confusedly. Then, in a split second, both of her arms shoot upwards to cover her chest as she blushes an angry red.

"Ash Ketchum, that better not mean what I think it means!"

"Waaaah! NO! That's not what I meant!" I shout, waving my hands in front of me to emphasise the point. "Argh, to hell with this. Misty, what I'm trying to say is that you look, um, really nice today."

I pull my cap down over my eyes to avoid her gaze, but it's not long before I feel a hand reaching across to lift it back up. "Okay, what do you want? You only ever say things like that to me when you want something. Are you still after that damn ice cream? Well, let me tell you something, Romeo – trying to butter me up is the wrong way to go about it!"

"I'm not trying to butter you up, honest!" I suppress a grin as I realise that trick has probably run its course. "I'm being serious, Mist. I think you look really…pretty."

As soon as the word escapes my lips, her irritated expression fades completely, replaced with an intense stare, right into my eyes. Her mouth hangs open slightly, and her cheeks are a delicate shade of pink. I can't tell if she's going to break into laughter or burst into tears, but whichever it is, it's not enough to tear her gaze away from mine.

"Th-thank you, Ash…" she stutters at a volume I can barely hear. The shine of her emerald eyes is intoxicating, and my mouth forms a small smile when I notice the sparkle from last night has returned. I had no idea a simple compliment could mean so much to her. Her feet start to shuffle in place, and, maybe I'm imagining this, but is her face moving closer to mine? I suddenly feel a wave of panic wash over me; what exactly am I supposed to do here? Though it goes against my better judgement, I can't help but think back once again to Brock's advice on 'opposing forces' and whatnot. What was that line – every action has a reaction? Oh yeah, that was it! If I push against something, it pushes back, right? I guess it stands to reason, then, that all I need to do is-

The second I hear the almighty crash of my best friend hitting the water, however, I conclude that I've clearly still got a  _long_  way to go before I get the hang of this.

"What the hell did you do that for, you jerk?!" Misty screams up at me, soaking wet strands of hair clinging to her face.

Deciding not to give her the chance to get any angrier, I quickly and proudly exclaim, "Misty, I challenge you to a battle!"

She tries for a while to kick off one of her famous 'Ash is an idiot' lectures, but amidst all the growling and cursing I can tell she's already made up her mind.

"…Fine. But on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Just take a step forward."

I do as I'm told, furrowing my brow at such an unusual request. Before I have a chance to ponder it any further, however, her arms are clamped around my waist, and with one forceful pull, I'm suddenly sharing the watery fate I brought upon my sniggering friend moments ago.

* * *

"This will be a two-on-two battle!" Brock states from up on the bleachers. "Ash, the challenger, versus Misty, the gym leader! Begin!"

Misty grins at me from her floating platform at the deep end of the pool. "I'm not gonna go easy on you just because you're my guest, Ash!"

I match her grin with my own. "I wouldn't dream of it! Give me your best shot, Mist!"

"You got it! Go, Corsola!"

Misty takes out a pokéball, kissing it lightly before hurling it forward. After a flash of white light, the beaming coral pokémon dances excitedly on the platform in front of her.

"Corsola, huh? Alright; Staravia, I choose you!"

"Sta- _ravia_!" my elegant flying pokémon sings as it hovers a few feet away from me.

"Corsola, Spike Cannon!"

"Staravia, blow the spikes back with Gust!"

Staravia flies high and beats its wings rapidly towards the flurry of spikes headed towards it. Gradually, they start to change direction, falling back towards their creator.

"Mirror Coat, Corsola!"

The pink lump of coral chirps and tenses up, causing a solid, reflective shield to appear before it, and, as the glowing spikes make contact, they instantly lose momentum and fade meekly away.

 _Misty's really been training her pokémon well_ , I think to myself as I prepare for my next move. "Ok, Staravia, Aerial Ace!"

"Corsola, jump in the water!"

My pokémon begins its charge, soaring towards its foe, but is forced to screech to a halt just before it hits the water's surface.

"Hey, no fair!" I yell across at Misty, crossing my arms. "Aerial Ace is supposed to hit every time. Quit cheating!"

She laughs and waggles her finger at me. "You're in  _my_  gym now, Ash, and here, we use a little thing called 'strategy'. Maybe you ought to try it sometime!" The huffing noise I make causes her to laugh again.

"Corsola, BubbleBeam!"

Before I have a chance to react, Misty's pokémon pops its head out of the water, directly in front of Staravia, and the barrage of bubbles hits it at point-blank range, sending the small grey and black bird crashing down on the mat.

"Oh no! Staravia, get up!"

I gulp as I watch Staravia struggle to rise to its feet.

"Now, Corsola, let's finish this with Tackle!"

"Staravia!"

My severely weakened pokémon doesn't stand a chance. The Tackle attack hits it head on, and Staravia crumples to the ground with unconscious swirls in its eyes.

"Staravia is unable to battle!" Brock bellows in his best 'serious' voice. "Corsola is the winner!"

"Staravia, return." I hang my head as the red light from my pokéball sucks the exhausted bird back into its home. Across the way, I see Misty and Corsola sharing in a little victory dance.

"Way to go, Corsola!" She hugs the ecstatic pokémon close to her chest, then stands up and makes an all-too-familiar V-shape at me with her fingers.

"What the…th-that's my thing!" I can't believe it; now she's stealing my moves too?!

"I don't see your name on it, Ketchum! Besides, I do it  _sooo_  much better than you – don't you think?"

"Grrrr…!" I growl at her. "Well this isn't over yet! Isn't that right, Pikachu?"

I look down at my feet expectedly, gesturing for my oldest pokémon friend to take his place on the platform, but instead, he droops his ears and hides behind my leg, shaking his head despondently.

"Aww, you still don't want to battle me, do you?" Misty coos happily. "Thanks, Pikachu! You always were a true Pika-pal!"

She then turns her attention to me. "Well, Ashy, there goes your ace in the hole. Wanna just give up now and save yourself the humiliation?"

 _Ashy?_  She's never called me that before. Maybe she hit her head when I pushed her in the pool. "It's you who's going to be humiliated! I choose you, Buizel!"

Another flash of light unveils the Sea Weasel Pokémon, flexing and chanting its name confidently.

"OHMYGODWHATISTHAT!" Misty squeals, almost falling into the water as she hyperactively jumps up and down on the spot.

"This is Buizel, my newest Pokémon. I got him in a trade with Dawn a while ago."

"I love him! Look at those little paws! And aww, I think he's trying to impress me!"

I look back down to the cocky little otter in front me, watching with a mixture of amusement and disgust as he shows off for Misty, posing and doing tricks to a shower of applause from the besotted gym leader.

As soon as I see what looks like him blowing a kiss at her, however, my mind snaps sharply back to our battle. "Alright, alright, that's enough! Buizel, use Sonicboom!"

"Bui bui!"

Buizel jumps up in the air, arms pressed to its chest, then forces them apart, releasing a tight shock wave towards Misty's fatigued Corsola.

"Corsola, dodge it!" But her warning comes too late, as the wave lands a direct hit, knocking the defenceless pokémon into the pool. It emerges seconds later, floating on the surface in a daze.

"Corsola is unable to battle; this round goes to Buizel!"

"I figured Corsola would be pretty drained from that last fight so wouldn't be able to take another hit. How's that for strategy, huh, Mist?" Now it's my turn to shoot a smug grin across at my opponent.

"Oh please, you just got lucky! Well, Mr. Pokémon Master, your luck's about to run out! Corsola, return." She returns Corsola to its pokéball then pulls out another, enlarging it with a push of the centre button. "Misty calls Staryu!"

I smile as Misty proudly tosses the ball towards the middle of the pool, where it snaps open in mid-air to reveal one of my best friend's oldest and most powerful pokémon.

"It's been a while since we battled, Staryu!" I say as it wiggles one of its points at me in a way that looks like it's waving.

"Hyaaa!"

"Staryu's grown a lot since you last saw it, Ash. I'm afraid there's no way you're gonna win this one!"

I smirk and turn my cap backwards. "Ha, we'll see about that! Buizel, Aqua Jet!"

"Dodge it with Rapid Spin, Staryu!"

Just as Buizel's attack is about to land, the red-jewelled star launches itself into the air, spinning at amazing speed and deflecting the burst of water completely off to the sides.

"Now follow it up with your Swift attack!"

 _Hmm, another attack that can't be avoided_ , I think mischievously,  _time to give Miss Know-It-All over there a taste of her own medicine…_

"Buizel, dive underwater!"

As I predicted, Misty growls in annoyance when the Swift attack fizzles out upon touching the water. "You can't do that! Now you're just copying me! Tell him, Brock!"

In the stands to the right of me, the makeshift referee just chuckles, shrugging his shoulders. "It's a perfectly legal move, Misty, no matter how unoriginal it may be."

"Grrr! I'll show you, you cheating little-"

This unfortunate pattern seems to repeat itself endlessly over the next few minutes. Whenever my pokémon performs an attack, Misty's successfully manages to get out of the way, and vice versa. Neither of us can leave a scratch on the other, and although I should be tearing my hair out in frustration by now, I honestly can't remember the last time I had so much fun. During the Johto days, Brock used to say that Misty's battling style and mine had become more and more alike over the years, but I don't think I've ever acknowledged just how right he was until now. We seem to be so perfectly in sync, as if we each know exactly what the other is planning to do, but, somehow, this only makes the battle even more exhilarating. I've never felt this way during a pokémon battle before, and I have to wonder if it's due to my newly discovered feelings for my opponent. No matter how much I'm enjoying this strange 'connectedness' we're experiencing, though, there's no way I'm going to let her win this match.

I watch as Buizel narrowly escapes Staryu's Double-Edge attack, landing back on the platform and panting heavily. On the other side of the gym, Misty's prized Star Shape Pokémon looks to be just as tired.

Misty and I lock eyes over the top of our pokémon's heads, sharing a look of determination that we both instantly recognise; neither one of us is prepared to go down without a fight. Taking in a huge gulp of air, I stand up straight and extend my arm out in front of me, my index finger fixed on Staryu.

"Okay, Buizel, Water Gun!"

"Staryu, Water Gun right back!"

Two streams of water suddenly shoot towards each other, meeting in the middle and causing a kind of fountain effect at the point of impact. A fine mist sprays everyone in the room, leading Dawn to yell at me for getting her hair wet, but I hardly notice, my gaze never shifting from the showdown between our two water pokémon. Both Buizel and Staryu remain strong for their trainers, fighting past their fatigue and continuing to pump out water at each other. After another few seconds, though, I realise that something else is needed if I really want to come out on top here.

"Buizel, use Sonicboom through your Water Gun!"

But Misty catches on to my plan straight away, like I knew she would. "Don't let 'em win, Staryu! Swift attack!"

Almost immediately, Buizel sends a devastating shock wave straight through the middle of the water jet from its Water Gun attack; at the same time, Staryu unleashes another burst of Swift, little yellow stars spiralling along the pokémon's own torrent to the centre. The two attacks meet in a dramatic explosion, throwing a surprising amount of smoke up into the air and sending competitor and spectator alike into a mild coughing fit. Once the smoke clears, I look over to the pool where the two duelling pokémon stand rigidly in their spots, still facing each other. The room falls deathly silent, and Misty and I lean forward, breath caught in our throats as we wait for something, anything, to happen.

After what seems like an eternity, my exhausted Buizel stumbles slightly before eventually collapsing face-first onto the platform, the last of its energy fully depleted.

"Buizel is unable to battle! The match goes to M-"

However, before Brock can finish, I hear a familiar sound ringing in my ear. Looking back over at Misty's side of the pool, the red, flashing light from Staryu's core instantly catches my eye, its two-tone chiming resonating all through the arena as the little brown star slowly buckles under its own weight and falls down flat.

"Both pokémon are unable to battle!" Brock corrects himself. "This match is a tie!"

"Dammit!" Misty exclaims, "I was so close!"

"You did great, Buizel. Take a good long rest," I say, quickly returning the tired otter to its pokéball.

I step down from the floating platform and make my way over to the back of the arena where Misty, Brock, Dawn and Piplup are waiting for me. Though I'm still a few feet away, I can already hear Dawn gushing to Misty about the battle.

"That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! I've never seen two people so evenly matched in a battle; it was so intense! You're such a good battler, Misty!"

"Its hard to believe the last time you guys battled together was in the Whirl Cup about four years ago," a smiling Brock adds. "I'm glad to see it's still just as spectacular after all this time."

Rolling my eyes at their over-the-top comments, I cut through the 'crowd' and approach a slightly embarrassed Misty. Pikachu leaps into her arms, cuddling into her chest as I begin to speak.

"Good match, huh, Mist?" I smile warmly, extending my hand out to her.

She readjusts her hold on Pikachu and slips her free hand into mine, shaking it firmly. "Sure was! You've really improved since the last time I saw you battle." Her voice trails off slightly at the end and she pulls her hand back, clutching the purring electric mouse in an almost bashful way.

"Thanks, Misty. You were really great, too." I blush and look down at the ground as we sink into a pretty uncomfortable silence.

Moments later, my coordinator friend thankfully breaks the awkwardness. "Hey, what's this?" I watch with curiosity as she bends down to pick up a damp piece of paper at her feet.

" _Cerulean Cape Lapras Festival_ ," she reads, her face hidden behind the page. " _Celebrate the annual visit of the region's lapras with a weekend of games, music and all the food you can eat! Later, come to the cliffside and make a wish to the glorious soundtrack of Lapras's mating song! Fun for all the family from Friday to Sunday!_  Oh wow, this sounds awesome! And look, it's on today! Can we go, Misty? Can we?"

Misty leans over Dawn's shoulder to take a look at the leaflet. "Huh, I forgot the Lapras Festival was this time of year. I guess this leaflet must have blown in during the storm."

I raise an eyebrow in confusion. Surely, a festival involving water pokémon is right up her alley…isn't it? "How could you forget, Misty? Weren't you planning on going?"

"Not really, no."

"Why not?" asks Brock. "This sounds exactly like your type of thing!"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I used to love it when I was a kid. My sisters and I would go every year and watch the lapras till the sun went down. But when you get older, well…" She looks away, a little hint of red appearing across her nose. "Cerulean Cape has a reputation as one of the most romantic locations in all of Kanto, so the night-time event is more of a couples thing, you know? And I've, er, never had anyone to go with, so I just stopped going to the festival altogether."

"That's so sad," Dawn says softly, placing a hand on Misty's shoulder. As soon as I see my best friend try to hide her sadness behind a laugh and a few jokes about being "too picky" or something like that, the sudden feeling of guilt that creeps up on me becomes all but unbearable. I can't help thinking that if I had discovered my feelings for her earlier in my journey, I could have come back here every so often specially so I could be her date to the festival. Then again, if I did invite her and then found out she didn't feel the same way, I could have lost her forever.  _Maybe it's better this way_ , I decide in my head.  _I only wish she didn't look so lonely…_

"Well I'll go with you, Misty!" I pipe up without fully thinking it through. "Uh, that is, we can, er, go as friends, I mean." I dig my toes into the ground to try and stop myself from blushing wildly.

"And we'll be here, too!" exclaims Dawn. "We don't even have to stay too long if you don't want to. Whaddaya say?"

Misty glances between the three of us, clearly taking some time to consider what we've said. Not long after, I see her break out into a wide grin. "You know what? Sure, let's go! I haven't been for close to ten years anyway, so maybe it's even better now!"

Dawn lets out a cheer of excitement. "Yay! This is gonna be so much fun! Come on, Misty, we'd better start getting ready!"

Before Misty can protest, Dawn links arms with her and whisks her away, disappearing through the double doors and out of sight. Brock and I stare blankly in the direction that my female friends left in for at least a minute, the sudden silence of the huge arena creating an almost lonely atmosphere.

"So, Ash," I hear from behind me, my older friend's deep voice carrying a kind of playful tone, "how'd that battle go for you, eh? Was it as enlightening as I said it'd be?"

Still looking towards the door, I think back to the moment I noticed the strange harmony that Misty and I seemed to share, how we were able to know and understand each other so well without saying a single word. Hey, didn't Brock use the word 'harmony' during his pokémon centre pep talk the other day? My eyes widen in surprise; am I actually starting to get it?

"Maybe, Brock," my airy voice sounds through a gentle smile, "just maybe."


	5. Chapter 5

How girls can take so long to get ready, I'll never know. After the battle, we all agreed that 4pm would be a good time to head along to the Lapras Festival at Cerulean Cape, before Misty and Dawn promptly disappeared upstairs to powder their legs and wax their noses…wait, was that it? Argh, I dunno. The point is, we made that agreement at around 1:30pm, over two hours ago, and they're  _still not done_! What the hell are they doing up there?

While we're waiting, Brock and I decide to have a slow walk through the gym's impressive aquarium area, admiring the giant tanks and enclosures that house some of Misty's favourite pokémon. I notice she still hasn't found herself that tentacruel she wants so much, but, then again, as I remind myself, I guess a gym leader doesn't get many opportunities to go out and catch wild pokémon on top of their other responsibilities. After that, we change into our own festival clothing (taking  _us_  all of five minutes, mind you) – a simple navy blue dress shirt and jeans for myself, and the most unspeakably hideous orange tuxedo for Brock – then we head outside to spend some time with our pokémon by the small stream behind the gym. For the longest time I just sit here, leaning back on my hands with my head arced to the sky, allowing the chirps and roars of my excitable poké-family to become a muddled haze in front of me. Cerulean City is truly beautiful, which is yet another thing I've never noticed until this vacation. Misty really is at home here…

Oh my god, that's got to be the most corny thought I've ever had in my life. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

"Hey, Ketchum, you in there?" A few knocks on my forehead quickly jolt me to my senses. As soon as my eyes trace the mystery arm hovering in front of my nose back to the face, however, I immediately discover that my previous train of thought may not have been as over-the-top as it seemed.

Misty's wearing a thin, white cardigan through which a short-sleeved maroon top can be seen, moulded perfectly to her shape, and a silky blue skirt flows down to just below her knees. She seems to be wearing makeup, which is uncharacteristic of her in almost any context, but I'm glad to see that Dawn hasn't overdone it ( _something Misty probably not-so-subtly insisted on_ , I muse to myself). Yet, as my eyes wander ever upwards, the butterfree in my stomach return with full force when I notice…

"Y-Your hair's down," I mumble like a complete moron, continuing to gawk at her as she adjusts the small, white flower resting behind her left ear.

"Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious! I would never have noticed that without your help!" she smirks, pulling me up to my feet.

Before I can spit back an equally sarcastic retort, Dawn steps into my view, her bright pink dress reflecting the sunlight straight into my eyes.

"Let's go, guys!" She's practically shaking with excitement. At that moment, my stomach lets out an enormous growl, causing me to wrap my arms around my front embarrassedly.

"What?" I address the giggling Dawn and the eye-rolling Misty. "I haven't eaten since lunch! Besides, that flyer said 'all the food you can eat', and I, for one, would quite like to put that to the test! Right, Pikachu?"

My electric rodent bounds up to me, his spiky tail pointing straight up in the air. "Pika!"

"Race ya there!"

On my mark, the two of us bolt across the grass to the front of gym, turning swiftly towards the path leading to the cape. Before the Cerulean gym disappears around the corner, I hear a jumble of rapid footsteps approaching behind me, followed by an out-of-breath version of a phrase I'm more than used to hearing…

"Ash, you idiot, wait for us!"

* * *

Misty's only taken us up to Cerulean Cape once before, around the time we watched her perform in her sisters' water ballet about seven years ago. Back then, I remember thinking it was nothing special, just a wide-open space with nothing but trees and water fountains as far as the eye could see. Looking at it now, however, it's hard to believe that this is the same place my eleven-year-old self couldn't wait to get away from.

The whole park is decorated with balloons and banners (all blue, of course), and all of the lampposts framing the area are connected by long strings of bunting. Two tree-lined walkways separate the cape's three sections, with the majority of the festivalgoers concentrated in the centre, skipping merrily about the well-trampled grass. Stalls containing everything from pokédolls to Cerulean-themed jewellery radiate out from a large, rectangular pond adorned with an elaborate water feature, an upwards-spiralling gyarados statue with smaller statues of other water pokémon sitting on its back, each spurting jets of water daintily up to the sky. Although Winter has only just passed, the sun is beating strongly down on the whole city, making the slightly brisk temperature that much more bearable, and, as we step through the archway towards the first semicircle of stalls, the shiver of excitement I experience tells me straight away that coming here was a great idea.

Well, that, and the fact that I've just spotted a sign for a hotdog-eating contest. But right on cue, my redheaded friend's talent for reading my mind rears its ugly head once again.

"Don't even think about it," Misty says matter-of-factly, pulling me back by the scruff of my neck before I can make a beeline for the queue. "We're here to have a good time, not to watch you eat yourself to death on hotdo- oh, for Mew's sake!"

Breaking off abruptly, she starts frantically looking around, her left hand still scrunching up my shirt collar. "Where's Brock? I was supposed to be supervising him, and then you distracted me! Dammit, Ash, you know he can't be trusted at these things!"

Beside her, Dawn points over to a small crowd of people a few stalls away. "Don't worry, Misty, he's just over there."

"Hey, ladies..." We watch as he sidles up to a group of three mortified women, grinning like an imbecile. "How'd you like to take a trip around the  _Brock_?"

"God, I think his lines are even  _worse_  now," Misty muses. "But, thanks to you, he's going to have to crash and burn on his own this time."

We exchange glances briefly. "Oh don't give me that look, Ash. I know for a fact that if I go and get him you'll just run straight to that hotdog stand, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you outsmart me in my own city, Mr. Pokémon Master!"

I guess I should be annoyed that my brilliant plan was foiled, but I just end up laughing. She really does know me, doesn't she?

At that moment, Dawn also lets out a small giggle. "No need to worry, Misty. Help should be on its way any second now…"

True enough, a flash of light from Brock's belt and a quick Poison Jab later, the pokémon breeder lies reeling on the ground while the group of girls shifts anxiously away.

"Croa!" The toxic mouth pokémon proudly exclaims.

"That's Croagunk," I explain excitedly. "He helps keep Brock in check while we're travelling in Sinnoh."

Misty's scowl instantly turns into a mischievous smile. "Huh. I like him already!"

She winks at me a little, and I turn away to hide the slight reddening of my cheeks. After a few seconds, though, my stomach loudly reminds me of my main priority.

"Can we eat now, Mist? I'm so hungry I could eat a wailord!"

I turn back around to see her rolling her eyes, but still she's smiling. "Yeah, and you're going to turn into one if you keep eating like you do, Ketchum. But I suppose I'm getting kinda hungry too…fine, let's go!"

It takes us quite some time to find an empty picnic bench among the swarms of people and pokémon at the festival. Only on our third lap of the park do we finally get seated, and I waste no time in bolting over to the nearest food cart and ordering my friends and I enough burgers and barbequed meat to sink the St. Anne. Again.

"Wow, this place sure is packed," I hear Dawn say as I plop back down on the bench.

Misty reaches across the table and grabs a chicken leg, waving it in the air like a baton. "It's probably just the sun. Normally it's miserable here this time of year. Guess you got lucky again, huh, Ash?"

"Well, I  _am_  the Chosen One, after all," I sneer, posing with my hands on my hips like a superhero.

"Nice to see that saving the world hasn't gone to your head," she mutters sarcastically through a mouthful of chicken.

"Oh that's nothing, Misty. I've saved the world about half a dozen more times since then."

"Well whoop-de-doo, Mr. Messiah! So, if you're as much of a legend as you say you are – Brock, eyes front! – then how come you couldn't beat me in a simple two-on-two battle, hmm?"

"I…err…" Damn, that was a good point. Okay, Ash, how are you going to spin this one in your favour? "I guess that means you're a legend too, right? Yeah, that's it! You've proven your worth, and have now earned the right to an audience with the great Ash Ketchum! Muhahaha!"

Brock, Dawn and Pikachu immediately burst out into fits of laughter, while Misty tries her best to remain neutral.

"You're so full of it, Ash," she sighs, clutching her head in exasperation.

"What's the matter, Mist? Jealous?"

"Um, Ash, maybe you shouldn't…" Brock tries to interject.

She turns her head towards me, her teal eyes locked unnervingly on mine. "Jealous? Of what? Parading myself around calling myself ridiculous names? Yeah, right!"

"Oh that's rich, coming from the  _Tomboyish Mermaid_  herself…"

The stunned gym leader lets out a sharp gasp, followed by an infuriated growl.

"YOU SWORE YOU'D NEVER CALL ME THAT!"

"Ash, people are looking," Dawn whispers across the table.

"Well maybe I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't got all moody out of nowhere!"

"I'm not being moody!"

"Yes you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

" _Um, excuse me, miss-"_

"Are-"

Our impromptu argument is quickly halted as Brock's hand forcefully covers my mouth. Misty and I both take a series of breaths to calm down (the standard post-fight routine) before swivelling around on the bench to face the source of the mystery voice we heard just seconds earlier.

To our surprise, it's not Officer Jenny coming to break the two of us up with tear gas and pepper spray, but a group of children, two girls and a boy, no older than six or seven years of age. The girl at the front steps forward, tugging at her blonde pigtails bashfully while her other hand clutches tightly onto a psyduck-themed notepad.

"Erm, Miss Misty?" she begins timidly, her eyes darting rapidly between the gym leader and the ground at her feet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I observe Misty's demeanour change in an instant, disguising her still-flushed face with an infectious smile. "Well aren't you beautiful!" she gushes, holding out her hand to the little girl. "What's your name?"

"Ch-Charlotte," she says, slipping her tiny hand into Misty's. "And these are my friends, Marco and Francine. We're, like, your biggest fans in the whole wide world!"

My best friend beams warmly at her young admirers. "Aww, thank you, guys, that's so sweet! Are you staying to watch the lapras later?"

"You bet! The Cerulean Lapras are the coolest! When I grow up, I wanna be a water pokémon trainer just like you, Miss Misty!"

Charlotte turns to her friends, who mouth something I can't quite make out. Blushing, she pulls back her hand slowly and hugs her notepad close to her chest.

"Um, me and my friends were just wondering, er, could we please get your autograph? Pretty please?"

Over the next couple of minutes, Brock, Dawn and I watch Misty patiently sign the seemingly endless supply of pads, posters and pamphlets the three excited children push in her face. Amongst the clutter, I notice a few hand-drawn pictures, a photo of the four Waterflower sisters outside of the gym, a copy of  _Aqua_  magazine featuring Misty on the cover, and last year's Indigo League Almanac. It's been almost four years since Misty left to become a gym leader, and in all that time, I've never realised just how good at it she really is. Although she never told me so outright, I could tell from the calls and letters I got from her at the beginning how worried she was about taking the mantle from her sisters full-time. Seeing how much these kids worship her, though, speaks volumes about her talents, both in battling and in inspiring future pokémon trainers across the region. She may not have always believed in herself, but I know that  _I_  always believed in her, and it fills me with warmth and pride to see that she's finally made it.

To think that, just moments ago, Misty and I were about ready to kill each other, but now, as she sits chatting happily with her fans while she scribbles away, all I can think about is how much I love her. Whether we're fighting tooth and nail or simply enjoying each other's company, it feels so right to be here with her, and, until recently, I had no idea just how much I needed her in my life. One minute she's violent and foul-tempered, the next, kind, loving and compassionate, and while most people would probably see her strange 'duality' as unstable, volatile, harmful even, I wouldn't have it any other way, because it's both the anger and the compassion that make Misty who she is. I've lost count of the amount of people we met on our journey who passed her off as some loud-mouthed, cold-hearted bitch; if only they could see her now, fussing over those three kids as if they were her own. My best friend has such a huge heart, and it's times like these that tell me beyond any doubt,  _I'm so lucky to have fallen for her_.

"Is that your boyfriend, Miss Misty?"

A squeaky, high-pitched voice jars me from my thoughts, and I look down to see a stubby finger pointing up at me. The question rings in my ears, lingering long after it originally sounded, and I feel the need to mouth the words silently to myself a few times before finally glancing over to my left. Time seems to freeze as Misty and I make eye contact, our eyes wide and faces beet red. The last time someone accused us of being a couple was way back at the beginning of my Hoenn journey, and, like always, we were quick to tell them they were dead wrong; now that we're adults, though, it's almost as if that familiar question means something different, something, I don't know, deeper?

Our brief stare ends as quickly as it begins, however, and I remain silent, deciding that it's Misty's turn to deliver one of our well-practiced lines of denial.

"Oh no no, it's n-nothing like that! He's not, er, I mean we're not, you know, together, as in, er, going out or anything!" she splutters, trying to laugh away her obvious awkwardness. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she continues. "Ash and I are just best friends, that's all."

"How romantic," the brown-haired girl with the pointing finger sighs tenderly. "You guys should totally get married!"

Again, I say nothing, but my breath catches in my throat when I hear the mention of the M-word. It's not something I've ever really thought about before, but now that I've come to terms with my feelings for Misty, I can't help but wonder,  _would I want that someday_? Eh, maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.

Within another minute or so, Misty's successfully managed to wrap up this unusual conversation and politely send the inquisitive children on their way. As soon as we're alone again, however, an uncomfortable silence hangs over the group, neither Misty nor I daring to look each other in the eye. Finally, it's Brock who rescues us from our discomfort.

"Wow, Misty, those were quite the adoring little fans you had back there. You must have become something of a celebrity here in Cerulean City!"

She looks up, blushing and waving her hand dismissively. "Celebrity? Hardly. I'll leave that part of the job to my sisters. I'm just glad I get the chance to inspire some people now and then, you know?"

"Well, they sure seemed inspired to me. You're such a great gym leader, Misty!" I blurt out, deciding straight away that those words sounded better in my head.

I'm not used to giving compliments to my best friend, and, judging by her embarrassed reaction, it doesn't look like she's used to receiving them, either. "Thanks," she manages to say, and I quickly get the feeling we're about to sink into another painful silence unless something happens in the next five seconds…

" _Attention!_ " A male voice booms over the tannoy, one I'm grateful for but makes me jump nonetheless. " _The Lapras Festival Fishing Competition will begin in 20 minutes. Please make your way over to the pond now if you wish to participate_."

I don't even have to look at Misty to envision the face she's making.

"OH WOW!" she shrieks right in my ear. "How exciting! I haven't had the chance to fish for ages – I'm going to go sign up!"

Dawn stands up across from me, clutching Piplup to her chest. "That's a great idea, Misty, we should all take part! What do you say, Ash?"

"Sure, sounds like f-"

I stop in mid-sentence as the thoughts of Misty and fishing bring an intriguing idea to the forefront of my mind. Instinctively, I turn on my heel and begin worming through the crowds back towards the cape entrance.

"Ash, where are you going? You're going to miss the contest!" Brock shouts after me.

Still running, I shout back, "Just go ahead and sign me up, Brock, I've just remembered I left something important at the gym. I'll be back before it starts, I promise!"

As I leap through the archway, the cold Spring air kissing my face, the grin I've been holding back for the last minute or so finally makes its grand appearance.  _Just wait_ _till they get a load of my secret weapon…_

* * *

"Contestants, take your places!"

As promised, I make it back to Cerulean Cape in time to take my place in the contest. Still panting slightly from the run, I stand atop my red podium at the edge of the pond, holding my shiny fishing rod out in front of me. My friends have all adopted similar positions on my right-hand side – Misty on a yellow platform, Dawn on a blue one next to her, and Brock at the end on the orange podium – and, as I look down the line at their eager, grinning faces, I instantly feel my famous competitive spirit kicking in.

"Each of your rods has been fitted with a custom-built lure ball," the announcer explains. "Any pokémon in this pond that makes contact with the ball will be captured instantly, without the need to weaken it. You have fifteen minutes to make your catch, and the winner will be the one who catches the pokémon deemed the most impressive by our judges. On my mark, please lower your rods into the water."

He raises his hand, then drops it to his side, signalling for us to plunge the blue spheres at the end of our lines underwater. Looking across to the other side of the pond, I see the other contestants doing the same.

"How ya feeling, Mist?" I ask joyfully, noticing her beaming face out of the corner of my eye.

"I can't wait to get started! You're going down this time, Ash!"

A small laugh escapes my throat, but I let it carry on internally for some time after. Misty's passion for fishing has always been a sight to behold.

"Ok, good luck, everyone! Your time starts now!"

A wave of cheers and screams fills the area as all of the fishers turn their attention to the water, eyes scanning the surface for movement. Less than a minute later, I hear the first whoosh of a pokéball being filled.

"The green contestant has caught the first bite!" screams the announcer while a boy on the opposite side of the pond jumps up and down victoriously. "But he'll have to wait until time is up to find out what it is!"

Before I know it, five of the fifteen minutes have passed, and only a couple more of my opponents have managed to snag themselves a pokémon. The crowd is still roaring with excitement, something I don't quite understand, as I've never really figured fishing for a spectator sport. But then, I suppose this whole city is obsessed with everything aquatic, so maybe it makes sense after all.

"What's the matter, Ash?" A familiar voice jerks me back down to Earth. "Giving up already?"

I look down to see Misty sitting cross-legged on her podium, her face wearing a smirk but her eyes never leaving the water.

"As if!" I reply childishly. Normally I would have continued my taunting for longer, but I know fine well that, compared to Misty, my fishing skills are mediocre at best. If I'm going to win this thing, I need to level the playing field. Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out the small object that I ran all the way back to the gym to retrieve, rolling it around fondly in my hand.

"But maybe  _you_ ought to give up now, Mist; check this out!"

"Ash, what are you trying to-"

By the time she looks up, I'm already attaching my prized Mini-Misty to the end of my fishing rod, turning my head now and then to gauge my friend's reaction.

"Is that…is that my lure?"

"Sure is!" I exclaim proudly, "It's my good luck charm!"

"Y-You've kept it all this t-time?"

When I turn to look at her properly, I find her lost in a kind of trance, just staring up at me blankly. Her eyes are wide and glassy, and she's biting her lip as if trying to stop herself from crying.

"Uh, yeah," I say dumbly, afraid she's going to burst into tears any second.

"Ash, I…I…"

"YESSSS!"

Misty and I both jump about a foot in the air as an elated squeal blusters past us.

"And the blue contestant reels in a live one!" the over-enthusiastic announcer declares. "This competition is really heating up now!"

"Alright!" Dawn leaps off her podium and comes bounding over in our direction, her newly occupied lure ball in hand. "I got one! Oh, I can't wait to see what it is!"

We each give her a little smile then turn our gazes back on each other.

"Well, Ash, that's a nice gesture and all," she says confidently, apparently having 'recovered' during Dawn's outburst, "but you should know by now that an effigy of me can't hope to compete with the real thing! Bring it on, Mr. Pokémon Master!"

I return the grin she's wearing without a second's hesitation.  _That's the Misty I know_.

"And we're into the last five minutes!" bellows the commentator. "Only three contestants have yet to catch their pokémon!"

Naturally, those three contestants just happened to be Brock, Misty, and myself.

"Dammit! Just stay in the water, for Mew's sake!" Brock moans from a few feet away. I stifle a giggle when I notice that he's somehow got himself tangled up in his fishing line. "How the hell do you do this?! You guys have always made it look so easy! Argh, get off me, you stupid piece of-"

As amusing as his ramblings are, I remember that time is against me, and reposition myself to focus on the eerily calm pond below me. All of a sudden, a shadow darts across my line of sight, slowly drifting under the water towards my two opponents. I start to panic; they can't get this, I saw it first! Just as the mystery shape approaches Misty's line, however, my devilish ten-year-old impulses take over.

"Say, Misty, is that Prima over there?"

Her head shoots upwards so fast it's amazing she doesn't break her neck. "PRIMA?! Oh my god, where is she? WHERE?!"

While my friend is distracted by her search for the well-endowed water pokémon master, I take the opportunity to swoop my line over to her side, swatting her lure ball out of the way of the approaching shadow, and, before she has a chance to react, the shape disappears into my pokéball with a dramatic flash of white light.

"That was one sneaky manoeuvre from the red contestant! Yellow, Orange, you have three minutes left!"

"I can't believe you!" Misty fumes, looking ready to vault off her podium and karate kick me in the face. "When I'm done here I'm going to kick your ass, Ketchum!"

After a few more choice remarks, though, the gym leader falls deathly silent, eyes riveted to the water. The cheering of the crowd also fades considerably as the contest enters its final moments. Brock is still hopelessly out of his depth, swearing and cursing as he tries to cast his frayed and knotted fishing line into the pond, but Misty remains motionless. A few lumps and ripples dance around on her side of the pool, yet still she doesn't budge. I know how much of a perfectionist she is, especially when it comes to water pokémon, and I can tell that she's not willing to settle for any old catch. She's already chosen her mark, and she's going to pursue it until the very last second.

Speaking of which…

"We're coming up to the final ten seconds now; these last two contestants had better get a move on!" the announcer croons. "Everyone, get ready to count down with me! Ten…nine…eight…"

At that moment, the water begins to bob up and down at Misty's feet. Edging closer, I notice a graceful silhouette floating just below the water's surface, though the blur of the waves it creates prevents me from seeing exactly what it is. Judging by the sudden fire in Misty's eyes, though, I'm guessing that this is the one she has been waiting for.

"Seven…six…"

The shape moves unpredictably, constantly changing direction, and, as the clock ticks down, I close my eyes and cross my fingers.  _Come on, Misty_ , I silently pray, y _ou can do this_ …

"Five…four…three…"

The crowd gasps collectively, causing my eyes to shoot open in shock. I watch as Misty takes a swift lunge forward, yanking her fishing rod to the left and beginning to reel in her line. For the briefest of moments, time seems to stand completely still, the intimidating countdown fading into the background as the entire audience becomes transfixed on the determined Waterflower on the yellow podium. Then, just before the clock reaches zero, an indistinct cry sounds from the pool, and the mysterious pokémon is engulfed in the bright light from Misty's lure ball, quickly disappearing as the tiny, blue and red capsule snaps itself shut.

Within half a second, the crowd erupts into an almighty burst of applause in celebration of the unbelievable display we just witnessed.

"A smashing last-minute snag for our tenacious yellow contestant!" the announcer yells, barely able to contain himself. "And with that, your time is up! Everyone, please make your way over to the judges' table to reveal your catches. And to the unfortunate Mr. Orange, here," he gestures towards Brock, who is currently lying face-down on the ground after not managing to catch a single thing, "I'm afraid that this is as far as you go; thanks for playing!"

"Stupid contest," he mutters into the ground while Pikachu and Piplup poke at his head curiously. Turning my attention back to Misty, I see her slumped on her podium with her legs sprawled out to the side, panting heavily from sheer exhaustion – and, after the stress of those final moments of the contest, I can hardly say I blame her.

"Don't help me!" she snaps when I try and lift her to her feet. "I'm still mad at you for that little stunt you pulled."

Rather than trying to defend myself, I simply let go of her arm and walk over to the large trough of water resting in front of the three judges. Shortly after, Misty joins me, looking less frustrated but still going to great lengths to avoid looking at me.

At the judges' instruction, each of the nine contestants releases their caught pokémon into the trough, water sloshing over the side with each new addition. A mixture of groans and cheers resonates around the circle as our prized catches are revealed: a couple of magikarp, two goldeen, a seel and a slowpoke for our opponents, a small psyduck for Dawn (albeit a more 'serious' one than Misty's), and…ugh.

"Tentacool!" the shapeless, blue blob squeals coarsely, writhing about in the water with its two thin tentacles.

"Fantastic," I whine bitterly.

"You know, you're welcome to swap with me if you want," Misty says as her head appears from behind me and rests on my left shoulder. Though I'm glad we're apparently on speaking terms again, this sudden closeness is making me feel quite lightheaded.

"N-No thanks," I stutter before I actually have a chance to look at what she's offering.

My jaw drops straight to the floor. Flipping and gliding elegantly about in the square pool by my best friend's side is a perfect, vibrant, beautiful dratini.

"Wait a minute!" I cry, waving my arms in front of me. "I mean, er, what a great idea! Of course I'd like to swap pokémon with you! Hehehe."

"Too late!" she teases, sticking her tongue out at me. "Besides, did you really think they'd let us do that? Clearly, saving the world all the time doesn't require too much brainpower, eh?"

I grumble at her briefly before turning to look at the judges hovering around the pool of pokémon with their clipboards and tape measures.  _Like they even have to think about who's won_.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, the announcer speaks up again. "The judges have made a decision! After much deliberation, the winner of this year's Cerulean Cape Lapras Festival Fishing Competition, with a pokémon weighing in at 7.45 pounds…"

"God, just get on with it," I whine, whistling to myself loudly to drown out the rest of the announcer's drivel.

"…is the yellow contestant, Cerulean gym leader Misty Waterflower!"

Misty tries her best to look surprised, but as soon as that dratini burst out of her pokéball, I think we both knew her victory was a foregone conclusion. Try as I might, though, I'm not actually as annoyed as I look. Out of the two of us, fishing has always been Misty's thing, and I'm glad that people are getting to witness one of her more hidden talents for once.

Beckoning her forward, one of the judges places a shiny, circular, bluish medal around Misty's neck. She blushes a bit before turning back around to another flurry of cheers.

"We, the people of Cerulean City, offer our sincere congratulations to Ms. Waterflower," begins the announcer again in his painfully 'artificial' manner. "And, as an additional prize, the pokémon you caught is yours to keep!"

"Oh wow, Misty!" Dawn chirps, giving the gym leader a quick hug. "I can't believe Ash didn't tell me how good you were at fishing! I mean, I kinda guessed because of the lure and all, but still, that was incredible! And aww, you get to keep that adorable dratini too! I wish I could've kept my little psyduck; I've always wanted a pokémon from Kanto…"

While the bubbly coordinator talks Misty's ear off, the cogs in my head begin to turn once more. Stepping up to the judges' table where the nine lure balls sit idly, I wave for the attention of the announcer and reach over to whisper a few words into his ear. He takes a moment to consider what I've said, and then smiles at me warmly, nodding his head in agreement (I'm sure I see him wink at me briefly, too, but I'm not sure what that's about).

"Here you go, Miss," he says, walking over to Misty and placing a still-damp lure ball in her cupped hands. "Congratulations, again."

"Thank you!" she shouts back at him as he disappears through the crowd.

"Open it," I say softly.

She looks at me confusedly. "Why? I've already seen it."

"Just trust me."

Shrugging, she stands back and pops open the ball, releasing its contents on the grass in front of her.

"What the…Ash, this is…your tentacool," she murmurs.

"No, Misty. I just had a word with that announcer guy. It's yours now," I say with a proud smile on my face. "I could tell you were only half-joking when you asked me to swap pokémon with you. Honestly, you're the only person I've ever met who would rather have a tentacool than a dratini. I know it's not quite a tentacruel, but you can evolve it some day, right? And also, er, you know, I kinda figured that this could be, um, your late birthday present from me. I bet you thought I forgot, but I was just so busy with training and stuff those two or so weeks ago, and we were mostly on the road so I couldn't get to a pokémon centre, and-"

A blur of orange and white flies towards me, and, before I realise what has happened, Misty's arms are wrapped tightly around my shoulders, her silky hair brushing up against my cheek. I feel my insides turn to jelly as I return the hug, gently placing my arms around her waist. Over her shoulder, Brock and Dawn appear shocked for a moment, but then proceed to dance around silently in excitement, punching the air and making annoying kissy faces at me. Even Pikachu joins in, jumping up on Dawn's shoulder and giving me his two-fingered victory sign. As soon as I see Brock making a suspiciously 'scales-like' shape with his hands, however, I realise with a silent groan that my current position must have something to do with his science-y advice. I'm still unclear as to what it all means, but at least he seems to think I'm getting warmer. For now, though, all I can do is roll my eyes childishly at the pokémon breeder.

"Thank you, Ash," Misty whispers into my collar, her breath tickling my neck. "It's perfect. And, er, thanks for remembering my birthday."

"No problem, Mist," I whisper back. We pull apart slowly, but continue to stare into each other's eyes for another few seconds, my cheeks becoming hotter and hotter.

"So, what should we do now?" Brock interjects. "We've still got a bit of time to kill before the lapras appear."

"Wanna go for a walk around the park?" Misty asks.

"Sure, why not?" Brock and I both say at the same time.

"Actually, if you guys don't mind," Dawn starts quietly, "I think I'm going to use this time to get some contest training done. There's a free spot of grass over there, and I want to give my pokémon a chance to get some exercise before it gets dark."

We each give our younger friend a small nod of approval before watching her skip off towards the northeast corner of the cape. Seconds later, we turn to head in the opposite direction, beginning our peaceful trek around the borders of the park.

* * *

It's around 6pm now, and a spectacular sunset shines over the Cerulean Cape Lapras Festival, thin beams of orange light poking through the trees as Brock, Misty and I stroll around the relatively quiet left third of the park. We pass the huge manor house on the northwest side belonging to Bill, the pokémaniac we met in a lighthouse near Vermilion City some eight years ago, and briefly consider having a look inside before we notice the eye-watering price of admission. The crowds seem to have died down a little, so at least we can actually see where we're going now, but the place is far from empty, with most of the remaining festivalgoers making their way over to the cliffside to await the promised Cerulean Lapras.

Passing smoothly through the middle section, we head up the tree-dotted path on the right-hand side towards the patch of grass where Dawn is currently twirling around with her Piplup and Buneary. As we get closer, I see that her performance has attracted quite a sizable crowd. Pokémon contests aren't too common in the Kanto region, so I guess it makes sense that the Sinnoh native has suddenly become the life of the party. She seems to look a bit embarrassed upon seeing us, however, so we decide to leave her to it, instead making our way to the end of the cape to watch the sun go down.

As we approach the cliffside, the grass under our feet gives way to varnished stone tiles, radiating out in small, mosaic-like patterns across the whole semicircle-shaped area. We reach the white, marbled railings and look down at the waves crashing forcefully against the cliffs. A small lighthouse can be seen in the distance, looking ready to burst into life any second as the sunlight gradually slips away.

"I'm really grateful you guys talked me into coming here," Misty says softly, her eyes never leaving the sea. "I forgot how beautiful Cerulean Cape is at this time of night."

"Yeah, it's quite something, isn't it?" Brock replies, leaning on the railing. "But it's Ash here who talked Dawn and I into coming to Cerulean City in the first place. If anyone deserves the credit for this, it's him."

I blush slightly as Misty turns to me, smiling. "Well, I guess I should be thankful you're so stubborn, huh, Ash?"

Brock laughs heartily. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what he was like the other day. He even got us our train tickets before we agreed to come!"

"Yep, that sounds like Ash alright. Wait, how did you even have the money for that?"

Suddenly, they're both staring at me, and I recoil slightly from embarrassment. "Um, well, truth be told…" I mumble, scratching the back of my head, "my mom kinda helped me out a bit."

Brock looks mildly surprised, while Misty steps forward and smacks me on the arm, causing me to jump.

"For Mew's sake, Ash, you didn't involve poor Delia in this?!"

"Hey, it's not like I asked her for the money!" I exclaim, rubbing my bruised arm. "I had to call her yesterday morning anyway, and when I told her about my idea to come and see you, she insisted on wiring over some of my train money straight away. You know I can't argue with her once she's set her mind on something. And besides, I think she's always considered you part of the family anyway, you know?"

As soon as those last words leave my mouth, her expression softens back to her gentle smile from earlier. "Well, I suppose it's too late to worry about it now. You can be such an idiot sometimes, though."

We sink into a comfortable silence, leaning over the railings and gazing out across the horizon, the last wisps of sunlight tenderly fading to nothing. After a few minutes, I'm startled by a soft, 'whistling' sound, a kind of mellow wailing coming from below me, and, when I look down at the lightly thrashing water, a familiar sight brings a warm smile to my face.

"The lapras are here! The lapras are here!" I hear a number of people shouting. Before long, the sea is overrun with schools of the friendly Transport Pokémon, flapping playfully about as they sing their song.

"I should go and get Dawn," Brock says, standing up straight. "She's been talking about this ever since we got here."

Before he leaves, he pats me on the shoulder as if trying to tell me something. He then disappears without a trace, leaving me alone on the cliffside with my best friend, whom I've just discovered I have feelings for, during the mating season of one of her favourite pokémon in an area known mainly for its…

…Ugh. Well played, Brock. Well played.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

I shuffle along the railing to her side. "Mhm."

"I wish I knew what they were singing about."

"Something to do with mating, I'm guessing?"

"Smartass."

Misty closes her eyes and tilts her head up slightly, smiling as she takes in the soft trilling of the moonlit cape's aquatic visitors. The unique sound is hard to explain; it's not a 'melody' per se, but it's also far from just chaotic noise. Either way, there's something really peaceful about it, and, as I look across the cliffside, I notice that a lot of people are holding hands and twirling each other around gracefully to the soothing music. Looks like Misty was right about this part of the night being more for couples after all.

Taking a breath to calm my sudden nervousness, I turn to my entranced friend as a strange desire overcomes me. "Misty?"

Her eyes flutter open slightly. "Yeah?"

"Would y-you, er, I mean, do you wanna maybe d-dance, you know, um, with me?"

"What?"

I clear my throat, just barely resisting the urge to slap myself in the face. "Misty, I was wondering: would you like to dance with me?"

She cocks her head slightly to the side, giving me a look that makes me think she doesn't quite believe me. Then, for the longest time, she just stares, straight into my eyes, and although my instincts are telling me to look away, I instead find myself staring right back at her.

Finally, after a few failed attempts to say something in reply, she simply nods her head, taking me by the hand and leading me over to a suitable spot in the middle of the semicircle. My face heats up when my gloveless hand makes contact with hers, but our eyes remain fixed on each other. I place my other hand tentatively on her waist, while hers reaches up to rest on my shoulder, and, very slowly, we begin to sway back and forward, looking down occasionally to avoid stepping on each other's toes.

"Am I doing it right?" I ask shakily. "I've never really danced like this before."

"Just relax, Ash." She smiles. "You're doing fine."

I give a small sigh of relief. "This day has been really something, hasn't it, Mist?"

"It's been amazing. I honestly can't remember the last time I got to leave the gym for something other than grocery shopping or League meetings."

A hint of sadness pinches my chest when I hear these words, but I push it down so as not to spoil this moment we're sharing. "I've enjoyed it, too. It's been far too long since we got to spend time together like this."

"Even though we've fought most of the day?"

"Especially because of that. It's just like old times!"

She nods in agreement before beginning to look around curiously. "Hey, what happened to Brock and Dawn? Did they come back yet?"

I gesture behind me with a quick turn of my head. "Yeah, they're over there."

In truth, I'd noticed them return to the cliffside just before Misty and I started dancing, but I silently hoped that they wouldn't come back over to us just yet, and, judging by the thumbs-up I received from Brock as we passed each other, I think they knew this.

"Really? Then why aren't they over here with us?"

I roll my eyes in a kind of jokingly cynical manner. "Why do you think?"

Within a few seconds, her face turns bright crimson, and her smile disappears, replaced by a look of both embarrassment and guilt. "Oh…" she murmurs, her hand slipping off my shoulder. "Ash, maybe we should stop…"

"Misty, wait." I reach down to take both of her hands in mine. "Don't pay any attention to them. We were having a good time just now, weren't we?" My head hangs low as I whisper, "Please, stay."

I keep my gaze on the floor, afraid of what might happen at this point. Misty frees her hands from my grip, and I briefly wonder whether or not she is still there before, to my surprise, I suddenly feel the same hands snaked around my neck. Looking up, I wrap my own arms back around her waist, and we move in closer than we were before, still teetering gently on the spot. A moment later, Misty lets out a small giggle.

"What's so funny?" I ask bemusedly.

She giggles again, playing with a clump of hair at the nape of my neck. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I just forgot how different you look without your hat on."

This time, it's my turn to laugh. "Apparently it's not ' _proper festival attire_ '," I pout, putting on my best Brock voice.

"Well, I think this look suits you," she says, fiddling with my shirt collar a little. "Besides, you're gonna go super bald if you keep wearing that thing all the time."

"Oh please, we both know that's not gonna happen. I'm too lucky, remember?"

She swats my shoulder playfully before leaning forward and resting her head on my chest. I freeze up when I feel the warmth of her cheek press against me, but gradually relax into it, and we stay like this for ages after, cuddling into each other on the moonlit cliffside in the serenity of the lapras's mating calls. As we continue to dance, the pleasing rhythm we're keeping takes me back to our battle a few hours earlier – how our battling styles seemed to complement each other despite us both wanting desperately to win; how we could sense the other's next moves before they made them; how our unique combinations of moves at the end resulted in a tie – and, with a small smile, I realise that a lot of how I felt during that battle is exactly how I'm feeling right now. Sure, we're moving in time with each other, but somehow I feel it goes deeper than that, almost like our ways of thinking are also in sync. We always know exactly how to annoy each other, how to cheer each other up, how to lend an ear when one of us is sad, and it's a connection I've never experienced to this degree before with anyone else. As I rest my chin gently on the top of her head, I can't help but hope that my closest friend feels the same way.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I hear Misty say, her voice just above a whisper.

"You first," I answer in a similar tone.

"Well, actually, I was thinking that we haven't made our wishes yet."

"Wishes?"

"Yeah, wishes. Don't you remember what the flyer for the festival said? Once the lapras appear, everyone gets to make a wish."

"Okay, then…" I pause to think for a minute, "I wish for enough cheeseburgers to choke a munchlax!"

"Typical," she tuts, "and I'm pretty sure you weren't supposed to tell me, either."

"Oops," I laugh, "Well, er, I guess you've got to tell me yours now, right? It's only fair, after all."

She grunts impatiently, then shakes her head in defeat. "Fine. I, er, well, I…I wish that you could come and visit me more often."

My heart skips a beat as soon as I hear the seriousness in her voice. Before I can splutter out a reply, though, she continues. "I-I'm not saying I expect it of you or anything, because I told you last night how proud I am of your progress as a pokémon trainer, but this day has been so perfect, and I guess I didn't realise just how much I, er, missed being with you. A-All of you, th-that is."

She tears her eyes away from mine and looks down at her shoes, a fresh blush appearing on her face. Reaching forward, I tilt her head back upwards with the tips of my fingers, looking her in the eyes as I whisper, "I'll try, Mist. I promise I'll try."

"Thanks, Ash. That means a lot to me," Misty says through a warm smile. After another brief moment of silence, her smile turns slightly more devious. "Okay, your turn! What were  _you_  thinking about?"

"I, er, can't remember," I admit sheepishly. Just as I say this, however, I'm suddenly reminded of a burning question I had been meaning to ask my best friend since this morning. "But there is something I was wondering about. Please don't get mad, but I…kinda overheard you and Daisy talking just before she left for Saffron City."

"You mean you were eavesdropping. I should've kno- wait…exactly what part did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it."

Suddenly, her expression changes to one of shock. She almost looks like she might even cry. "Ash, that was a private conversation! You had no right to listen in on what we were saying!"

"I wasn't eavesdropping, honest! And I didn't mean to upset you; I just heard you talking about some guy and how you had something to say to him. All I wanted to know was whether or not it's someone I know."

For the umpteenth time today, she stares at me incredulously as if I've just grown another head. Her arms trail back down to her sides and she takes a small step away from me, snorting exasperatedly. "You really are the densest person I've ever met, Ash Ketchum."

"What? What have I done now?"

She looks away and starts wringing her hands, still looking fairly annoyed. "It wasn't just 'some guy' we were talking about this morning…it was, er, y-you."

"Me?" I ask, genuinely surprised. Maybe it's the rush of emotions I've been experiencing ever since we started dancing, or maybe it's the cold night air getting to me, but it takes me a while to figure out what this revelation actually means. "So…you've got something to tell  _me_?"

She nods her head lifelessly.

"Well what is it?"

At that moment, Misty's eyes lock with mine again, but this time, there's something different about them. Though I can still see the familiar sparkle flitting across her beautiful teal irises, a warm spark of emotion I haven't seen for years sends tremors all through my body. It's a look I saw in her eyes quite a few times when we travelled together, and although I never fully understood what it meant, I always kind of liked seeing it, since it normally happened on the rare occasions that we weren't fighting. Right now, this look is still as confusing as it ever was; all I know is that I'm pretty sure I'm looking back at her in exactly the same way.

"I…I mean, it's, um…n-nothing. It's not important."

 _Wow, she seems really nervous_ , I tell myself,  _But why would she need to act that way around me?_

"Misty…" I begin, placing my hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to be afraid. No matter what happens, I'll always be your friend."

"Wh-Wha…?" she whimpers, beginning to tremble in my arms. Her eyes flash with a sudden sadness I'm not quite sure what to make of. "You mean you-"

But she cuts herself off, shaking out of my hold and closing her eyes tightly. "I…I can't do this anymore. I'm s-sorry."

Without another word, my distressed best friend pushes past me and begins to run across the grass towards the cape entrance, quickly vanishing into the darkness of the dimly lit streets.

For about a minute, I remain bolted to the spot, completely overwhelmed by what just happened. What did I do to upset her? Was it wrong of me to encourage her to open up to me? Should I even have brought up hers and Daisy's conversation at all? Before I can baffle myself any further with what-ifs and wild theories, I hear a clutter of footsteps getting closer and closer to me.

"What happened? Where did Misty go?" Brock asks, Pikachu resting on his shoulder.

"I…don't know," I answer with a lump forming in my throat. "One minute we were dancing, and then the next…"

"Well don't just stand there!" Dawn cries, snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Go after her, for crying out loud!"

Thankfully, my friends' words are all the motivation I need, and, giving each of them a quick look of gratitude, I sprint down the darkened walkway in the direction of the Cerulean gym.

The door is slightly open when I arrive, leading me to believe that Misty tore through here in a hurry. Her cardigan lies bundled up on the foyer floor in front of me, as well as her fishing medal in the opposite corner.

"Misty?" I shout across the waiting room. "Misty, please, talk to me!"

No answer, as I expected. Just as I begin to climb the stairs to the living quarters, a faint splashing sound from the pool area halts my ascent, and I turn to make my way through the changing rooms, entering the arena via the side door.

The sight I see almost brings me to tears. Misty's sitting on the end of the diving board, hugging her baby azurill with one hand and resting her chin on the other. Splashing about in the pool is the tentacool I caught for her, chanting its name merrily while Psyduck stares fascinatedly at it from the poolside. As I walk further into the room, my friend's facial features become clearer, revealing her tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes, but she simply stares downward into the water, never giving me so much as a passing glance.

"Misty," I call up to her, "I think we need to talk."

"Leave me alone, Ash," she squeaks, her voice low and monotone.

"Not until you tell me what this is all about."

Well, that did it. In a split second, she stands up straight, takes a few steps backwards and slides down the ladder to the floor. It takes all of my strength not to run a mile as soon as I see her stomping towards me.

"You've really got no idea, have you!" she bellows, her face only inches away from mine. "We haven't danced together since we were ten years old, and then, out of the blue, you ask me to slow dance with you in goddamn Cerulean Cape of all places! Do you have any idea what that must have looked like?! Then we started talking and laughing and, well…cuddling, and I thought I saw a side of you that I hadn't before. You seemed more mature, more, I don't know, 'clued in' about these sorts of things, and I let myself believe, just for a minute, that we might be getting…closer."

She stops only for a quick breath, denying me any chance to get a word in. "But the SECOND I'm about to tell you one of my deepest, darkest secrets…you tell me you want to be friends."

"But we  _are_  friends!"

The fiery gym leader unleashes a scream of frustration. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN! Could you not have told me this earlier so I wouldn't have spent all these years wondering, getting my hopes up? Hell, I even thought I was starting to finally move on, but then you just had to show up on my doorstep and make me feel like a starry-eyed twelve-year-old again! The way I was looking at you when the lapras were singing, the way I held onto you…oh god, I must have made such a fool of myself! And I never expected you to, you know, to f-feel the same way…but the worst part is that you never even knew how  _I_  was feeling! Do you even know now? Dammit, Ash, what will it take for you to realise how much I-"

Hoping to quickly put an end to Misty's painfully self-critical speech, my right hand flies forward, resting gently on her soft cheek. I feel her breathing become short and rapid, almost matching how fast my heart is beating. Then, without thinking, I gradually begin to lean in, closer and closer, until the tips of our noses are brushing against each other. A faint cry of "A-Ash…" is the last thing I hear before my eyelids flicker shut and I close the distance between us.

As soon as our lips meet, I stifle a gasp as a huge tangle of information in my brain built up over the last eight years suddenly snaps into place, and I finally understand.

It all makes sense now. Brock was right about everything.

Misty is my opposing force. When I act, she reacts. When she pushes, I push back. We're both equal and opposite, so alike yet so different, and this unique, perfect balance is what constantly brings us back together. At the beginning, she was always there; to train with me, to fight with me, to comfort me when I lost a battle, to yell at me about that damn bike, and I know that I meant as much to her as she did to me. After she had to leave, though, I felt empty, incomplete, as if some vital part of me was missing, but, for years, I could never figure out what it was, and only when Brock spoke to me back in Sinnoh did I finally realise what I had to do to restore the balance. Misty's never really been one for fate, but I wholeheartedly believe that we were meant to meet that day at the river, to become friends, to fall in love, to achieve our lifelong dreams together. Like day and night, or two sides of the same coin, neither of us can exist without the other, because it's the beautiful equilibrium of our two opposite forces that gives us purpose, and, now that I see this, I know that I never want to let it go.

Misty tenses up from the kiss, and I'm sure I can feel her shaking slightly. After a couple of seconds, she starts to kiss me back, relaxing into me before forcefully shoving me backwards.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" she shrieks, her voice wavy and tearful. "HOW DARE YOU TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE JUST SAID?!"

Unfazed by her outburst, I look her in the eyes and softly say, "I love you, Misty."

"Wh-What did you say?" she asks, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to figure it out – well, to be honest, Brock and Dawn kinda helped – but as soon as I did, I knew I had to come back to Cerulean City so I could tell you how I felt. I'm in love with you, Misty, and I…I think I always have been."

"I-I don't understand…" Misty sniffs. "I thought you said you just wanted us to be friends?"

"I said 'I'll always be your friend' – and I will – but that doesn't mean we can't be more."

A second after those words leave my mouth, Misty throws herself into my arms, kissing me intensely as she runs her fingers through my hair. I kiss her back immediately, lifting her off her feet in my enthusiasm.

We break apart a few moments later, our foreheads resting against each other. Once we catch our breaths, I envelop her in a loving hug.

"You're such an idiot, Ash Ketchum," she sighs contently into my shirt, dampening my shoulder with tears, "but I love you."

"And you're still an annoying runt," I jokingly reply, "but I love you too, Mist."

In the quiet of the Cerulean gym's empty arena, the only light coming from a row of dull spotlights on the ceiling, Misty and I stay fixed in our position at the poolside, unable to break the embrace we have both waited so long for. Her sobs are light and airy, a release of years of pent-up emotion, and, as I reach upwards to stroke her beautiful orange hair, I swear I can feel a small tear trickling down from my own eye. I always thought that this level of happiness was reserved only for fairy tales and Pokémon League victories, but if there's anything I can count on Misty Waterflower for, it's her incredible ability to keep surprising me, and, after sharing the most perfect moment with my closest friend and sort-of-girlfriend, I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

Right now, safely balanced in the arms of my beautiful counterpart, there's nowhere else I would rather be.


	6. Epilogue

"Well, I've got to hand it to you, Ash. After she ran away from you at the cape, I honestly thought you'd blown it."

"Oh ye of little faith! Nobody can resist the Chosen One, Brock; remember Melody? And Bianca?"

"Tracey told me about Melody, yeah. But Bianca doesn't count because Misty and I were pretty sure it was Latias who actually kissed you."

"Whatever. So how was the rest of the festival?"

"Uh-uh, don't try and change the subject! Dawn and I want to hear about _your_ night!"

"Brock, we're stuck on this train for the next six hours. Why have I got to give you the full nine yards right now? Or at all, for that matter?"

"Are you kidding me? You dragged us halfway across the country just so you could tell Misty how much you love her, and now you won't even tell us what happened?"

"Ugh, alright! Well, there's not much to tell, really. She was crying because she thought I'd rejected her at the cape, but then I told her she'd got it all wrong and that I was in love with her, and we…well, you know…"

"Had sex?"

"What?! No, of course not, you perv! We just, sort of, made out a little."

"Ooh, saucy! My little Ashy is all grown up!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I don't suppose you got a dance at the festival, did you?"

"Well, er, no…they probably just felt intimidated by my gorgeous smile and imposing physique. You know, the usual reason!"

"You keeping telling yourself that, Brock. Hey, there is one thing I wanted to tell you about last night, though."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I finally got the hang of your science crap."

"No way! I knew my advice would pay off in the end! Oh man, this is definitely going in the best man speech!"

"You know Misty and I have only been together for a day, right? But anyway, I think it's time you got rid of that book. You know, the one from Professor Oak? I've had enough of science and riddles to last me a lifetime."

Brock stands up suddenly from his seat across from me on the train. Edging slowly towards the aisle, he shoots me a suspiciously mischievous grin. "What book?"

FIN


End file.
